Male student sues UT-Austin president Fenves over sexual assault suspension

Gregory Fenves, president of the University of Texas at Austin. Learn what a recent report of sexual assaults at UT revealed in the following gallery. Gregory Fenves, president of the University of Texas at Austin. Learn what a recent report of sexual assaults at UT revealed in the following gallery. Photo: Jay Janner, MBR Photo: Jay Janner, MBR Image 1 of / 23 Caption Close Male student sues UT-Austin president Fenves over sexual assault suspension 1 / 23 Back to Gallery

A University of Texas at Austin student said he was unfairly suspended from the university after President Gregory Fenves intervened in his sexual assault case.

In a lawsuit filed Monday, the student accused Fenves of unfairly intervening in an effort to take a hard-line stance on campus sexual assault, fearing that UT-Austin would "suffer the same public relations disaster that occurred at nearby Baylor University" if administrators did not appear to take the crime seriously.

An initial review had sided with the male student. Fenves sided with the female student on appeal.

"This sort of thinking is un-American," the lawsuit states. "It is political gamesmanship done to advance the reputation of a powerful bureaucrat and a wealthy university at the expense of truth about their own students. Public humiliation and punishment without a fair trial, done by insiders within the power structure, is a vestige of Middle Ages."

SEX ASSAULT DATA: Data shows UT-Austin reported largest number of on-campus rapes

UT-Austin spokesman J.B. Bird said in a statement that the university generally does not comment on pending litigation or student disciplinary measures.

"Our policies and procedures in such cases are followed and applied with care and diligence at all levels, including appeals to the president during which he makes decisions only based upon the record in the case," he said.

He told the Austin American-Statesman that Fenves responds to student disciplinary appeals, which attorney Brian Roark, who is representing the male student, confirmed in an email to the Chronicle.

The students, identified only as Jane Roe and John Does, were college sophomores in April 2016 when she invited him to be her date at a sorority formal. They drank alcohol at the event, and afterward, the two went back to the male student's apartment, where both students said she consented to having sex.

The female student later said her judgment was impaired and accused the male student of rape because she was incapacitated. A hearing panel sided with the male student in February 2017, and the female student appealed the decision.

Fenves then stepped in. Responding in a seven-page letter, he concluded that it was more likely than not that the male student assaulted the female student "while she was too intoxicated to give consent," according to court documents. He was suspended for five semesters.

Universities require a "preponderance of the evidence" standard in sexual assault cases, lower than the "beyond reasonable doubt" standard in criminal cases.

UT-Austin defines incapacitation as "a state of being that prevents an individual from having the capacity to give consent." The state, according to the university, could stem from a person's use of drugs or alcohol, being asleep or unconscious or because of an intellectual or other disability.

The lawsuit alleges that the university's definition is "unconstitutionally vague because it provides an entirely meaningless definition of the term incapacitation," and it suggests that Fenves overstepped so that the university would not be subject to criticism that it didn't take accusations seriously, naming Baylor as a cautionary tale.

HoustonChronicle.com: Baylor sexual assault victims met with skepticism, little assistance from university

The lawsuit also alleges that Fenves stepped in because the female student is the daughter of a wealthy donor, whom the lawsuit did not identify.

Roark declined to give more information on the timeline of the parent's donations.

"As the primary fund raiser for the University, President Fenves has a conflict of interest in deciding Title IX appeals generally, but especially when a donor's child is involved because of his potential bias towards donors and his role as a fundraiser," the lawsuit says. "The potential for abuse in this circumstance is significant, and the appearance of impropriety is striking."