University of Richmond responded to a Westhampton College student's allegation of the administration's mishandling of her sexual assault investigation in the fall of 2015, calling her accusations "inaccurate," in a campus-wide email sent to the student body Wednesday.
The email was sent on behalf of Maura Smith, the Title IX coordinator and director of compliance, Dr. Mia Reinoso Genoni, the dean of Westhampton College and Dr. Joe Boehman, the dean of Richmond College.
"While we cannot address specifically the contentions in the recent Huffington Post commentary ...we think it is important for us to share that many of the assertions of fact are inaccurate and do not reflect the manner in which reports of sexual misconduct have been investigated and adjudicated at the University," according to the email.
Cecilia Carreras published an account on the Huffington Post contributor network yesterday, writing that she was sexually assaulted by a student athlete who remains involved with athletics and that the university mishandled the investigation.
Carreras has filed a complaint with The Department of Education (DOE) against the university, as was first reported Tuesday by The Collegian. According to Carreras, she is awaiting confirmation from the Office for Civil Rights as to whether a formal investigation into the university will be launched. The university is already under federal investigation by the DOE for its potential violations of Title IX procedures.
The email also addresses Beth Curry's departure as the Coordinator of Sexual Misconduct Education and Prevention and as faculty leader of Spiders for Spiders, the school's bystander training program. The administration expects to have her position filled within the next month, according to the email.
"We are committed to responding actively to reports and supporting our students," the email stated. "We are equally committed to education and prevention, including supporting peer programs such as Spiders for Spiders."
To read the full email, click here. This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
Contact editor-in-chief Charlie Broaddus at charlie.broaddus@richmond.edu or managing editor Lindsay Schneider at lindsay.schneider@richmond.edu.
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