Oregon State Accused of Tolerating Rape

She claims the university had a financial motivation to brush sexual assault under the rug. In 1998, Samuelson says, the school "had a budget shortfall and enrollment was down 12 percent from the start of the decade."

She claims that Lois Krzesewski, then-adviser to OSU President Paul Risser on the Commission for the Status of Women on Campus, told The Oregonian that school officials had ordered her not to "discuss the particulars of Brenda Tracy's case," to avoid jeopardizing funding from donors.

Samuelson says she learned from the Oregonian in November last year that she had suffered the same thing as Tracy, in the same place. She claims that when Tracy reported the gang rape to police, who arrested the four men, coach Riley responded by suspending two of them for one game.

Samuelson says Oregon State failed to address the "hostile and sexually violent culture toward women permitted by OSU's football program," did not implement effective policies to prevent sexual assault, did not properly educate students, coaches and faculty about consent and sexual assault, refused to properly investigate assault allegations, did not appropriately discipline football players based on the severity of their actions, and refused to provide services to students who had been assaulted.

"Larry Roper, vice provost for student affairs in 1998 and 1999, said, 'Sex assaults were murky' and 'We had no idea back then how to conduct an investigation,'" the lawsuit states, citing an Oregonian report. "He also said, 'It wouldn't happen today. We'd expel them both,' referring to Calvin Carlyle and Jason Dandridge, OSU's football players," whom Tracy claims raped her.

In the same article, Krzesewski was quoted as saying: "'There was a lack of reporting when it came to sex assaults on campus. We had a real problem, and everyone knew it.' OSU's female students, including plaintiff, did not know it," the lawsuit states. "Instead, OSU's personnel made plaintiff feel as if it was her problem."

Samuelson seeks $7.5 million plus punitive damages for civil rights violations and constitutional violations. She is represented by Katherine Heekin in Portland, who declined to comment.

Steve Clark, vice president for university relations and marketing at Oregon State, told Courthouse News the university was "greatly saddened to hear of this experience that Ms. Samuelson had in 1999."

"Ms. Samuelson says she was assaulted by a non-student assailant that she says is related to the assailant in Ms. Tracy's case," Clark said. "We are not attempting to question Ms. Samuelson's recollection of assault. We are not calling her recollection or integrity into question at all. But we disagree and refute the claim in the lawsuit where she says that the university's decision to not expel the assailant in Ms. Tracy's assault led to her own assault one year later by a non-student relative."

Clark said the university has instituted programs since the late 1990s to help survivors of sexual assault and harassment, including counseling and psychological services, requiring every freshman to take a course in sexual assault awareness and risks of alcohol abuse, and requiring that all student athletes participate in these programs every year.

The school also created a sexual assault and advocate position "as a single source of information that a survivor of harassment and sexual violence can come to and seek clarity of all the services that are offered at Oregon State and in terms of reporting the matter and seeking services in the larger Corvallis area," Clark said.

"We want to provide someone to help the survivor navigate the difficult times that are occurring and receive the most immediate and complete services possible," Clark said.

As for monetary damages, Clark said: "We're very sensitive to the fact of her reported assault and will do what we can to assist her as a former student in providing service such as counseling. We want to assist her in this matter. What we are not able to do as a public university accountable to taxpayers and tuition-paying students is pay monetary settlements. We're not in a position to pay monetary damages where the university is not obligated to do so."

Clark said there was a big difference between campus responses to sexual assault when Samuelson and Tracy were students, compared to today.

"What was occurring in the university system and in policing in the late 1990s was very different from today, Clark said. "Universities 15 to 20 years ago did not enforce a code of student conduct off campus. We do today and have for many years. The investigations into acts of violence such as Ms. Samuelson or Ms. Tracy reported were not something that a survivor would go public with against a university 15 to 20 years ago. Then, those cases were not investigated or taken to trial by district attorneys. That is different today. So today, the university helps the survivor navigate the many agencies they need to go through in reporting their cases."

Tracy told The Oregonian that the woman who administered the rape kit long ago inspired her to become a nurse, a job she holds today.

Tracy acquired a second job in July: as a consultant for Oregon State, working with the school to prevent sexual violence and support survivors.

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