Last week, a Texas A&M student tweeted that she had reported to the university that a member of the swimming and diving team had raped her—and that the swimmer was back with the team. These are what she posted, first on June 7.
She later added that the swimmer had been found responsible by the Title IX process and his punishment was a suspension for one semester. He was given a redshirt for 2016-2017.
The tweet spread over the weekend, with more students telling their own accounts of what happened when they made reports at Texas A&M. One woman said she went to the Title IX office to report an attack and received no investigation at all. Another woman said a football player masturbated in front of her during a tutoring session, and the criminal justice system did more to punish him than the university. A third woman said her Title IX investigation ended with the student being found guilty of rape; he was suspended and then allowed to come back.
This is why yesterday Texas A&M suddenly issued a statement speaking in vague language about how it handles reports of sexual assault and sexual misconduct.
Those looking for answers from the statement instead got the typical university response: Because of student-privacy laws, Texas A&M insists it can’t say anything.