If you were assaulted at LSU, you likely have legal options.
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As allegations of rape and other assaults piled up against the school’s star running back, Derrius Guice, LSU officials preferred to doubt the women’s stories, didn’t investigate the allegations, didn’t report the assaults to police, and – most importantly – allowed Guice to continue his football career. And it’s not just one running back. According to the 2020 USA Today investigation, officials in the University’s athletic department, as well as broader administration, have repeatedly ignored complaints about assault and failed to protect survivors.
Why, you ask? Well, money of course.
How could a powerhouse football program like LSU expect to win those big games – and score those big dollars – without their key talent? Allegations of sexual assault didn’t matter to the officials at LSU. Not when it could hurt their bottom line. And while the stories against Guice and the LSU football program continue to pile up, we believe it’s just the tip of the iceberg. Women continue to come forward with horrible stories of assault across different areas of the LSU campus – from sports figures to professors – Many women report that the school’s Title IX office failed to protect them. LSU hid a culture of assault for years. It’s time to expose the truth and hold this institution accountable – no matter how long ago the assault occurred.
The complaints against LSU star running back Derrius Guice started in 2016, and likely continued for a year according to the USA Today investigation. According to federal law, LSU officials must take allegations seriously and report them to the Title IX officials as well as the campus police if the incident occurred on school property.
But that wasn’t the case, and Guice continued to play. Aside from Guice, at least ten other LSU football players have been reported to police for sexual misconduct.
LSU has acknowledged the formal disciplining of two of the ten athletes: Drake Davis and Peter Parrish. Parrish was suspended for one year. Davis was expelled, but not until July 2019 – which was an entire four months after his criminal conviction and a whopping 10 months after he had already left the school.
So, at that point, did it even matter?
The USA Today found additional evidence that women accusing male non-athletes received the same treatment.
According to interviews the USA Today conducted with five different women, LSU’s Title IX process is riddled with delays, missteps and inaction. One woman said she was triggered after ending up in class with a male student who assaulted her two years prior. This inspired her to finally report the assault, where it was discovered that another woman had also reported the same student for assault on the exact same night.
The Title IX case dragged on for over six months. During that time, the University rarely gave the women updates; it extended the accused’s deadlines to appeal (twice!) and denied the women’s request for protection from the perpetrator. The male student’s final appeal was ultimately denied in October 2019, and he was suspended for two semesters and banned from campus.
“If we get worn down enough, we’re just going to give up at some point,” she said. “I think it’s all designed so that everybody just gives up and goes home.”
In other specific cases, the University allowed three male students, all non-athletes, to remain on campus after being found responsible for assault. They were not suspended. They were not expelled. They received “deferred suspensions,” which was a probationary period where they were expected to stay out of trouble.