A former Duke student alleged the University did not do enough to respond to her sexual assault, but a federal judge dismissed the lawsuit Thursday.
Former Duke student Ariana Qayumi filed a lawsuit in 2016 under Title IX against Duke that alleged the University was "deliberately indifferent and negligent in its response," according to a News and Observer report. She transferred to a different school after the alleged incident.
Qayumi said that in 2011, two former students—Colby Leachman and Brian Self, both Trinity '14—drugged and raped her. The complaint filed in 2016 stated that Leachman is the stepson of Peter Lange, Thomas A. Langford university professor of public policy and former Duke provost. The ruling found the family did not have "undue influence" on the case, according to the News and Observer report.
Criminal charges were never brought against the students and they were found "not responsible" for sexual misconduct in the University's hearings. Both claimed the encounters were consensual, the report said.
Qayumi went to Duke Student Health on the day the incident was alleged to have occurred, but left without receiving any care—only leaving an anonymous note for a dorm adviser, according to the report. When the Duke University Police approached her following rumors of sexual assault, she said she didn't remember "sexual contact with anyone on the date in question," according to the report.
She later declined to be involved in an investigation initiated by Stephen Bryan, associate dean of students and director of the Office of Student Conduct.
Two years later, she submitted a written statement discussing the incident, sparking disciplinary hearings in which the men were not found responsible for the assault. Leachman, however, was put on probation after submitting a plea
"Given Ms. Qayumi's clear statements in 2011 to Duke administrators that she did not want to participate in any disciplinary proceedings and recurring statements of hesitation thereafter, no rational jury could find that Duke's response was clearly unreasonable," wrote U.S. District Judge Catherine Eagles in her ruling.
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Managing Editor 2018-19, 2019-2020 Features & Investigations Editor
A member of the class of 2020 hailing from San Mateo, Calif., Ben is The Chronicle's Towerview Editor and Investigations Editor. Outside of the Chronicle, he is a public policy major working towards a journalism certificate, has interned at the Tampa Bay Times and NBC News and frequents Pitchforks.