YPSILANTI, Mich. — Eastern Michigan University (EMU) has settled a Title IX lawsuit filed in 2021 by two dozen former and current students who allege the school mishandled their sexual assault complaints.
The alleged victims filed the lawsuit against the university, several officials, and the local and national chapters of the Alpha Sigma Phi and Delta Tau Delta fraternities, claiming at least three former male students committed off-campus rapes between 2015 and 2019 and the school covered them up, The Detroit News reports. The allegations sparked multiple protests by students and three men faced criminal charges in connection to the accusations.
The school, which has denied any wrongdoing, settled the lawsuit for $6.85 million, according to the Detroit Free Press. Officials declined to reveal specifics of the settlement, citing a confidentiality agreement as part of the deal.
In Sept. 2020, the school hired Philadelphia-based law firm Cozen O’Connor to review its policies and how it responded to the allegations. The report, released in May 2022, found EMU knew there were allegations of sexual assault against the three former students but the reports were either anonymous or the reported victims chose not to participate in a formal Title IX investigation.
The report did show that record-keeping in EMU’s Title IX office was so incomplete that it did not allow investigators to “provide as full and complete a picture of the university’s response as might have been possible had the Title IX coordinator and the Greek Life coordinator maintained more complete and contemporaneous documentation.”
In a statement issued on Feb. 2, EMU said it has made several improvements, including moving its Title IX office to the student center and changing its structure to report to the school’s chief diversity officer. Its Title IX website also features training and model syllabus language for instructors to include in their classes.
In addition to implementing revamped policies “to better serve both students who come forward to report potential Title IX violations,” the school received a grant to distribute Title IX resources, including a handbook and additional materials for campus community members.
“We have invested in additional training for our Title IX staff and the EMU staff who serve on hearing panels that are part of our Title IX grievance process,” the school wrote.
