Federal Lawsuit Filed Against Wesleyan University Over a Sexual Assault at a Fraternity

A former student at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, has filed a federal lawsuit claiming that the university did not do enough to “supervise, discipline, warn or take other corrective action” against a fraternity which the suit alleges was known as the “Rape Factory.” The woman was raped at a Halloween fraternity party in 2010 by a man who was not a Wesleyan student. The man pleaded no contest to a lesser charge and was sentenced to 15 months in prison.

Seven months before the assault occurred, the university had sent an e-mail to students warning them about the fraternity, stating that it “could not ensure students’ safety on the premises.”

The woman reportedly was later harassed by students who opposed proposed sanctions against the fraternity. The lawsuit says that “Wesleyan did nothing to prevent, and was deliberately indifferent to the harm caused by the rape and outrageous sexual harassment and intimidation that followed her everywhere on campus.”

According to the lawsuit, the woman became withdrawn and stayed in her dorm room missing meals and classes. She later transferred to another college.