Delaware Sued for Mishandling Athlete Rape Allegation

A former University of Delaware student is suing the institution under Title IX and the Fourteenth Amendment after administrators allegedly mishandled her sexual assault complaint, court filings show. On campus for required student activities during an academic break and without university-provided housing, "Jane Doe" says she was pressured to sleep at a sophomore football player's apartment. The athlete raped her in the bed they shared that night, she said, and transmitted an incurable sexually transmitted disease. "We see this all the time with [athletes like John Doe]," she says a university health services employee told her, and the lawsuit notes that the football player had committed the crime multiple times before and after the alleged rape. The woman sought help from Assistant Dean of Students Monique N. Colclough, the suit says, and although Colclough said an assault had occurred, she did not share the student's rights as a victim or offer any protection or required services, nor did she notify police or any other administrators about the incident or pursue an investigation. Instead, she encouraged the student to seek medical leave, which the student eventually took, before transferring to another institution in poor academic standing, according to the suit. The university declined to comment.