Georgetown University's Policy Of Silencing Campus Rape Victims Scrutinized By Feds


For Immediate Release April 22, 2003

Georgetown University's Policy Of Silencing Campus Rape Victims Scrutinized By Feds

Left to right: Kate Dieringer, S.Daniel Carter, along with Debbie & Jeff Shick whose son David was killed at Georgetown University in 2000

Washington, DC-Georgetown University's policy of not allowing campus rape victims to discuss the outcomes of disciplinary action taken against their assailants may violate federal law according to the U.S. Department of Education (DOE). The questionable policy has come under scrutiny in response to complaints filed by a student and a victims' rights organization.

Federal law guarantees the basic rights of sexual assault victims on university campuses and requires that they unconditionally be told the results of campus court proceedings in their cases, among other things. Georgetown, however, will only tell them if they agree to remain silent about the outcome, and sign a confidentiality agreement according to the complaints.

In a letter sent to Georgetown's president Dr. John DeGioia last Friday, John Loreng, a DOE official, wrote "a plain reading of the Federal Regulations...does not seem to indicate that an institution may impose conditions on re-disclosure" of information by campus rape victims. The school has been given 15 days to respond, and offer legal justification for their policy.

DOE Letter To Georgetown (April 18, 2003)

Feds enter non-disclosure debate (Georgetown Voice; 04/24/03)

Campus Injustice: A Story of Predatory Rape at Georgetown University by Kate Dieringer (March 2003)

Once Georgetown responds, the DOE is expected to issue a final determination on the complaints. If the DOE finds the policy is illegal Georgetown will be expected to change it and allow victims to speak freely about the outcomes of their cases.

"This is a problem at many schools across the country, and action in this case could be precedent setting," said S. Daniel Carter, Senior Vice President of the non-profit victims' rights organization Security On Campus, Inc. a co-complainant in this case. "A ruling that Georgetown must change their policy would have a major impact on schools across the country, and be a tremendous win for the victims."

Schools that violate the Campus Sexual Assault Victims' Bill of Rights, a portion of the Jeanne Clery Act campus crime reporting law, face $27,500 fines, and possible loss of eligibility to participate in federal student aid programs. Congress adopted these requirements in 1992 after widespread complaints that campus rape victims were being revictimized by their own schools' responses to the rapes.

The DOE review comes in response to a complaint filed last month by Kate Dieringer, a Georgetown sophomore. Last fall she went public with charges that her case was mishandled sparking widespread discussion on the campus about problems with the school's sexual assault policies.

"Georgetown discriminated against me by denying me an effective and equitable response to my sexual assault complaint," Dieringer said. "They tried to deter me from even coming forward at all with discouraging remarks, frustration, and contradictory information."

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