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SPRINGFIELD - An Amherst College reached a confidential settlement with the school after officials held up his diploma a week before graduation over an old, unfounded allegation of rape.

(THE REPUBLICAN FILE)

SPRINGFIELD — A lawsuit filed by an Amherst College student who argued the school unfairly held up his academic career over an old, unproven allegation of an on-campus rape has quietly settled.

According to records in U.S. District Court, the college recently reached a settlement with the "John Doe" but neither his lawyers nor school officials will discuss the terms of the agreement.

Doe filed the lawsuit last year after the college decided to revive a 2009 allegation a week before he was set to earn his diploma in 2014 - and after the college had disciplined him for excessive drinking and acting out sexually. His accuser, identified only as "Student A" in court records, said he complained to school officials at the time of his alleged encounter with Doe but never filed a formal complaint. In the meantime, Doe had taken a school-mandated, yearlong "medical withdrawal" from the college in his native South Africa.

The mandate included that the student seek psychiatric help, according to court records.

Doe returned to the college in 2011, earned good grades, a student ambassadorship and a job with the college after graduation. But, the school held up his diploma and the job when Student A reemerged with the old complaint a week before graduation. During a pretrial hearing last year, Doe's lawyer, David P. Hoose, told a judge that Amherst College was letting negative publicity around its handling of a number of on-campus rape allegations unfairly drive their treatment of Doe.

"Amherst College has taken a beating in the national press for the last two years because of the way they've handled these types of allegations, and now with the benefit of hindsight and the beating that they've taken, they want to expiate all of their sins ... over Mr. Doe's body," Hoose told U.S. District Judge Mark G. Mastroianni.

Amherst College remains among dozens of colleges under under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education for potential mishandling of sexual assault or harassment allegations. A federal statute encourages private colleges to conduct their own, internal investigations and prompted an outcry by critics of the practice.

The college was arguing for a retroactive investigation of the allegations before it would award his diploma. Mastroianni refused to block the stay.

Doe made a $2 million demand when he filed the lawsuit in June, plus his diploma and the job with the college. However, because of the confidentiality clause included in the settlement there is no indication of what the terms of the settlement were.

Caroline Hanna, spokeswoman for Amherst College, said the private college does not discuss the terms of such settlements. She did, however, emphasize that the college has revamped its practices around investigating allegation of sexual harassment and abuse on campus. This included revamping its Sexual Misconduct Board and launching a "Sexual Respect" website.

"Previously, hearing board panels were comprised of Amherst students, faculty and staff. Under the new system, cases are decided by well-trained and experienced professionals from the other four colleges in our community," Hanna said. "We made this change because students requested it. They did not want adjudication of sexual misconduct allegations to include individuals whose classes they might be taking or whom they might see on campus. That change made a lot of sense, and we hope and expect that it will help to establish trust and encourage reporting."