PROVIDENCE, R.I. – A Brown University student has filed a complaint against the college with the U.S. Department of Education, accusing the school of violating Title IX and Clery Act requirements.
Lena Sclove says she was sexually assaulted by another student during the summer following her first semester as a transfer student from Tufts University. Two months after the attack, the university found Sclove’s alleged assailant responsible for four code-of-conduct charges, including sexual misconduct, USA Today reports.
In her complaint, Sclove says the Brown disciplinary panel recommended that the alleged attacker be suspended for two years; however, the university’s senior associate dean of student life only suspended the student for only one year.
The student has not been charged with, or convicted of, rape or any other crime.
The alleged perpetrator attempted to gain admittance back into the university on April 22. On that same day, Sclove and her supporters organized a rally to protest his return to Brown, prompting the student to withdraw his petition to be readmitted.
Many of Sclove’ supporters believe that the by suspending her alleged attacker for only a year, university officials did not take the incident seriously, since students caught plagiarizing also receive the same penalty.
Students supporting Sclove have started an online petition with more than 11,000 signatures along with the Facebook group “Justice for Lena & Survivors Everywhere,” which currently has more than 2,300 members, USA Today reports.
The U.S. Education Board will review Sclove’s complaints, which could lead to an investigation and potential sanctions against the university.
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