So the National Review says that a student was disciplined just for asking a girl out on a date. That would be a great example of Title IX overreach. But it's not what happened.
Let's summarize what happened. First, he kept asking her out and attending her dance classes. /1
Let's summarize what happened. First, he kept asking her out and attending her dance classes. /1
He's making her uncomfortable, so she sends him a firm message to please cut it out, and he apologizes. According to his lawyer, he backs off for a while. /2
He keeps attending her dance classes, and there's no good way to kick him out. He starts asking for private dance lessons and she keeps firmly telling him no. /3
He sends her a signed love "confession" that she finds bizarre. He is making her so uncomfortable that she is running to the bathroom after class to avoid him. /4
So, this is a case where the girl has tried normal avenues to avoid an uncomfortable situation, and, after trying from April to October to get it to stop, she goes to the authorities. Here's how the National Review describes it: /5
As @MaxKennerly, what the author links to is a filing from the plaintiff's lawyer, and NOT a deposition. That is to say, it is likely written to cast his client in the best possible light. And even in THAT light, he was stalking her. /6
In short, it's a terrible example of a title IX problem, and the author should have read the filings and done some research before she wrote an article claiming that the girl had embraced some kind of victim mentality when she spent months trying to solve the problem herself. /7
Here's the article: nationalreview.com/2018/12/studen…
Let's look at the rule the student was said to have violated:
Is this girl reasonably in fear for her safety? Well, she's running to the bathroom to avoid this guy and he keeps showing up.
Is it a pervasive pattern? It lasted six months after she tried many times to stop it. /8
Is this girl reasonably in fear for her safety? Well, she's running to the bathroom to avoid this guy and he keeps showing up.
Is it a pervasive pattern? It lasted six months after she tried many times to stop it. /8
In short, what the plaintiff did appears to have been textbook sexual harassment under the school's policy. If it had continued, the victim likely would have been unable to keep teaching her classes. That sucks, and it needed to be addressed. /fin
Oh, and one other small gem. Not his first rodeo.
According to the university, he consistently tried to clasp her hand during class or demand high fives, and he also creeped out other instructors.
