A lawsuit filed last week against the University of Tennessee has accused the university of “deliberate indifference” and of mishandling reports of alleged sexual assaults on campus, using a 20-year-old incident involving Peyton Manning as a flagrant example. The lawsuit, filed on behalf of six unidentified accusers, further alleges that the University of Tennessee violated federal Title IX regulations against sex discrimination and enabled a “hostile sexual environment and culture.”
The university, obviously, denies any wrongdoing.
The Title IX lawsuit was filed in Nashville two days after the Denver Broncos’ win over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl 50, which also happened to be Peyton Manning’s second Super Bowl win. The lawsuit centers on five alleged rapes of female students between 2013 and 2015, with the addition of the 1996 incident involving Peyton Manning and Dr. Jamie Naughright (then Whited) included as “simply a backdrop to the institutional issues“ that are alleged to exist at the University of Tennessee.
There are other incidents mentioned in the 64-page document involving University of Tennessee student-athletes dating all the way back to 1995. Dr. Naughright is not a party in the current lawsuit, even though the incident involving Peyton Manning and herself is mentioned in the document.
“We came together to change what is done about sexual assault,” said one of the accusers, identified only as Jane Doe 1. Her case perfectly paints the allegations being lobbied at the University of Tennessee.
Three years ago, Jane Doe 1 (henceforth referred to as “JD1”) reported to campus officials that she had been raped by a varsity basketball player, Yemi Makanjuola, in his dorm room. JD1 reported the incident to university police, underwent a rape exam, and then relayed her story again to University of Tennessee officials. Makanjuola, meanwhile, invoked his right to counsel and denied the incident took place.
It would be five months before an administrative law judge appointed by University of Tennessee Chancellor Jimmy Cheek determined Makanjuola violated the student code of conduct “by sexually assaulting” JD1, even though university policy states that investigations are to be completed within 60 days. Makanjuola declined to show up at his hearing, instead maintaining his innocence through his attorney, Don Bosch, who himself is a former University of Tennessee student-athlete and a member of the university’s Athletics Board.
JD1 had no attorney, no one to speak for her.
Makanjuola’s punishment for the incident was indefinite suspension, which was null and void when handed down. Makanjuola had already finished his academic semester and transferred to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. Then-coach Cuonzo Martin had this to say of Makanjuola when the basketball player was granted his release from the university:
“Yemi is leaving Tennessee on good terms. He’s respected by his teammates and coaches, we all appreciate the work he’s put in during his time here, and I’m confident that he’ll be successful.”
Neither the sexual assault allegation nor a protection order obtained by JD1 were mentioned in the University of Tennessee’s news release about Makanjuola’s transfer. The Knox County District Attorney also declined to prosecute Makanjuola, citing insufficient evidence.
JD1’s account of what happened in Makanjuola’s dorm room is not only outlined in the lawsuit, but also exists in University of Tennessee Police Department reports, university disciplinary reports and incident reports, Knox County court filings, and in a series of interviews JD1 conducted with The Tennessean for the better part of the last year.
The incident has also had a devastating effect on JD1. The five month wait took a major toll and JD1 increasingly become depressed and anxious for the process to continue. Almost a year following the incident, JD1 was informed that her 3.12 GPA was below the necessary threshold for the university’s nursing program. When JD1’s therapist wrote a letter to the university that her academics had suffered due to post-traumatic stress disorder, the university dis-enrolled her. Since JD1’s therapist was on staff at the university, JD1 lost her access to ongoing counseling.
These are the harsh realities of what happens to women when they are sexually assaulted. Their lives forever change. They are traumatized and the procedures which are necessary to constructively come to terms with what happened are delicate.
This is where the University of Tennessee’s alleged actions in response to sexual assault accusations are the most damaging. They disregard that delicate recovery procedure for their own image and interests. This (lack of) response is especially heinous when it involves student-athletes. Yemi Makanjuola and Peyton Manning will not face the consequences of their actions, assuming the allegations against them are true. The university continued to play its star athletes and reap the benefits of athletic success in the NCAA. The university makes money and prestige, the SEC makes money and prestige, and the NCAA makes money and prestige. The parasitic, monetary relationship between university athletics and the bodies that govern them is a major factor in why incidents and allegations such as these take place and why they are covered up.
Penn State got away with it for two decades.
It’s too early to tell what will happen, if anything, to the University of Tennessee in regards to this lawsuit. But if the recent allegations against the University of Tennessee tell us anything, it reinforces that there exists a very real problem, a startling disconnect, between the safety of women on university campuses and the the priorities of campus administrations.
And that this may very well not be just a few isolated incidents, but a nationwide, institutional issue.
Featured image by Nightryder, available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported license.
