Chapter 1: What content warnings are relevant for this episode?
Something Was Wrong is intended for mature audiences and discusses topics that may be upsetting. This season discusses sexual, physical and psychological violence. Please consume the following episodes with care. For a full content warning, sources and resources for each individual episode, please visit the episode notes.
Opinions shared by the guests of the show are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Broken Cycle Media. The podcast and any linked materials should not be misconstrued as a substitution for legal or medical advice.
Thank you so much for listening.
Chapter 2: How did the guest first reach out for help after the assault?
You don't know anybody till you talk to someone Previously on Something Was Wrong
The night that I was sitting in the ER, that's when I myself reached out to the Title IX director. I said, I was assaulted on your campus on the Sunday, October 15th, and I would like to file some kind of complaint. We finally found an attorney, and she encouraged us to go to the local court and try to file for some kind of protective order or restraining order.
Otherwise, I felt like he was going to keep chasing me down in the school or in the parking lot.
We had a meeting with the president of the college and the dean of students and we said, she called public safety and nobody answered. I was so mad.
After the accusation was made and after we learned that there were other victims that were reported to the school and he was still remaining on campus and she still was running into him, at that point we decided we need to like really do something about this.
On November 9th, 2023, the Title IX office sent both parties an email that informed both parties that an investigator from Title IX Solutions had been assigned to investigate complainant, which was you in this case, allegation of sexual misconduct. It says... is employed by Title IX Solutions as an independent contractor.
This hearing officer had not had any discussion regarding this matter with prior to the hearing. And then on November 21st, 2023, the investigator contacted each party seeking to establish an interview time and place. What do you recall about that?
I think that I hit the jackpot with... She was amazing. She was very, very good at her job. The process leading up to it was kind of annoying, though, because once I had been established with my lawyer, I had started sharing all the documents and all the evidence and sending all the screenshots and all the pictures, everything to her. She had them all. But for some reason...
The Title IX people from my school, they would give us these deadlines. They would email us on November 1st, and they would be like, we need all of your documents in by November 2nd at 1159 p.m. And we were like, that's tomorrow. So they would give us zero notice. And my lawyer and I had multiple different times I remember this happening.
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Chapter 3: What challenges did the guest face when filing a complaint?
It took like three hours, but the interview was really good. She was very supportive and she was very warm. They're not supposed to be biased, but I think right away she believed me. Her behavior was very representative of somebody who felt bad. She kept saying, I'm so sorry that this happened. They want to know the background. So I told her how I met him and how everything led into how it did.
And I had sent her all the screenshots and all the files and rape kit numbers and police reports. I had told her what I wanted to come from this, that I just wanted him to go away for the sake of myself and for the sake of every girl on our campus. Because if he did it to me, I'm not convinced that he wouldn't do it to somebody else. And then that was kind of it.
And then I didn't hear from her for a while.
According to her notes, it says that the investigator contacted respondent November 28th, December 8th, and December 12th of 2023. And then on December 12th, 2023, the investigator was informed by respondent's advisor that that he would not be participating in the interview process, but did want to review the investigative report when completed.
She noted multiple times in her report that essentially he was not willing to be interviewed or participate in the process at all.
That is absolutely maddening.
Did you get many updates throughout the process? It sounds like it was a lot of hurry up and then wait.
Yep, it was a lot of that. Nothing was in advance. There was zero notice. I would have periods of complete silence where I wouldn't hear anything. And I would be like, what the heck is taking these guys so long? They would be like, we have no updates for you. But again, if there was anything that we needed to do, we would need to do it by end of day, same day.
There was another point where my school's media team posted on their Instagram, happy new year students. And it was a picture of Cody hugging some female student after he had already been arrested. And I was like, you have to be kidding me. On my Instagram, on my phone, I do not want to see this man's face. That was horrible.
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Chapter 4: How did the Title IX investigation process unfold?
It made me so angry.
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One day, it was February at this point because it went on for a really long time. I was at the aquarium with my mom and we were doing like a little trip. I checked my email while I was standing next to like the stingray tank because I felt my phone go off in my pocket. I had not heard from the Title IX people in a month and I'm far away.
And the email says, we need all documents submitted by 4.30 p.m. today. And it was like 2.15 p.m. You have to be joking. So I sent it to my lawyer and I was like, is this possible? And she's like, absolutely not. She ended up reaching back out to them and was like, you need to give us more notice because she was out of town at that point. I was out of town.
I'm just trying to be a young person in the world and have fun and not let this be all consuming. That was really frustrating. And it went on like that for months.
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Chapter 5: What was the experience of the guest during the police investigation?
I have no idea. She had asked me, like, why I didn't go to the hospital that night and why I didn't tell anybody even sooner. And I'm like, I was scared. I don't know how else to explain it. I was paralyzed with fear. And like my roommate said, I was completely in shock. And you can't make rational decisions when you're in fight or flight mode because your body is not thinking logically.
But whatever I said must have been enough because I ended up winning the case, which was really great.
The report says in all bold, sexual misconduct policy. I do find that the complainant did not consent to the actions of the respondent and that his behavior was sufficiently severe to support the evidence of a hostile environment which interfered with the complainant's education at the college.
She really got it spot on.
What did it feel like when you received the news that you had won and what do you recall about how you found out?
I was in the car. I think I was coming home from school or something like that. I'd gotten an email and I have this little like phone holder in my car that sticks to my dashboard so that I don't have to like pick up my phone if I need to use my GPS or something. And I saw the email come through. So I pulled over on the side of the road.
I was skimming through it because I'm like, the verdict is in here somewhere. I didn't read the full thing until I got home. But I scrolled and I scrolled and then I found in bold the fact that she found that it was unconsensual. It was unwanted and that he was guilty of misconduct. And I remembered somewhere on the interstate, pulled over, just bawling. in my car with relief.
It was cathartic, to be completely honest. Every ounce of my being was awoken at once, and I felt like I came back to reality. For the first time since that had happened to me, I was like, somebody sees me, somebody hears me, somebody understands that I didn't want that, and I'm not this person who
was asking for it or this person who should drop the case and who should just leave it alone and be small and be quiet. I'm allowed to take up space and share that what happened to me is not okay. She advocated for me because she believed me. It was just extremely emotional. And then I called my parents. I couldn't even wait until I got home and I was like, you guys have to see this.
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