Students: Columbia University mishandles sex assault complaints

Students say officials at Columbia University in New York failed three women who said they were sexually molested by a student athlete. Two of the women said they were raped, the New York Post reported. One said the university never held a hearing on her case because officials said there was not enough evidence, and the other said a hearing ended with a finding there was no evidence of sexual assault. In the third case, where a woman said the athlete groped her, he was found to have committed "gender misconduct." All three said Columbia did not report their allegations to police or encourage them to file police reports. Some students told the newspaper they are now asking Columbia to be more open about its process and findings. They said the university does the minimum required by federal law, reporting the total number of sexual misconduct complaints every year. Columbia Democrats has been circulating a petition. "We may know that these . . . cases were reported, but we don't know where those cases went, we don't know if they were resolved informally, we don't know if these people were subject to punishment at all,'' said Sejal Singh, the group's president. One of the women who said she was raped told the Post the male student is still on campus. "I see him everywhere, and he can come into my residence hall -- he has access to all of the facilities that I do," she said. Robert Hornsby, a Columbia spokesman, said the committee on sexual assaults will meet with the Columbia Democrats. He said Columbia does support students who report sexual assaults.