UT-Austin President Sued By Suspended Student Accused Of Sexual Misconduct

AUSTIN, TX — A University of Texas at Austin student has sued the school president over the campus sexual assault policy, decrying his five-semester suspension for what he claims was consensual sex after a sorority event, according to a published report.

The incident dates to spring 2016 after a UT-Austin sorority formal, according to the Austin American-Statesman. In the lawsuit filed on Monday, the student accused claims his accuser agreed to have sex after the social event, according to the report. Despite this assertion, the student was suspended from school for five semesters as outlined by the university's policy on such matters, the report indicates.

According to the lawsuit filed Monday in U.S. District Court in Austin, Fenves is said to have overruled on April 12 a university hearing officer who determined there had been no assault, according to the report. In a letter sent to the accused student, UT-Austin President Gregory L. Fenves determined from the evidence that the woman involved was highly intoxicated, writing that "...someone who is intoxicated cannot give consent to sexual activity because they are incapacitated.”

UT-Austin officials did not respond to a request for comment. According to the report, the letter informing the student of his suspension reads partially: “While parties may disagree as to whether intoxication and incapacitation are synonymous, certainly, someone described as: ‘incredibly intoxicated, no longer coherent, at a point where she needed to be taken home away from the event because she couldn’t form sentences,’ meets the definition of incapacitated.”

>>> Read the full story at Austin American-Statesman

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