TCU student’s lawsuit says faculty ‘dehumanized’ her, school ignored reports of racism
A Texas Christian University student says she was harassed, discriminated against, and physically assaulted while attending TCU from 2018 to 2019.
The 20-year-old black woman filed a federal lawsuit Jan. 15 in district court in Dallas against the university, the TCU board of trustees and five TCU employees. She is referred to as Jane Doe No. 1 throughout the suit.
The employees listed as defendants are Diane Snow, dean of the honors college; Frederick Gooding, an assistant professor of African-American studies; Rob Garnett, an associate dean of the honors college; Darron Turner, chief inclusion officer and Title IX director; and Russell Mack, an instructor. Aaron Chimbel, the dean of the Jandoli School of Communication at St. Bonaventure University and a former TCU faculty member, is also named as a defendant.
Doe, who is still enrolled at TCU, said the university revoked her merit-based scholarship without explanation, segregated her from white classmates, falsely accused her of plagiarism and ignored her reports of racism.
Because of this, Doe said in her lawsuit that she was diagnosed with depression, anxiety and thoughts of suicide.
The lawsuit alleges TCU has a history of racism and discrimination and “over a century of hateful campus culture gone unchecked.”
In response to the suit, TCU officials said in a statement that they are focused on creating an inclusive community. As to its history, the statement said, “like many universities in the country, TCU has a complex history that we are taking an active approach to examining and understanding.”
“It’s important to note that the facts of this case are still under review,” the statement said. “At this time, the University’s main priority is to ensure our student’s success and to investigate the student’s complaint. If we discover that any of these allegations are accurate, we are committed to addressing them.”
Chimbel declined to comment.
As of April 2018, 70.9% of TCU’s students were white. Fort Worth is 19.2% black and 34.1% Hispanic, according to the U.S. Census.
Among the allegations in the lawsuit:
▪ Doe transferred to TCU in January 2018 with a 4.0 GPA and received a merit-based scholarship, but the scholarship was revoked once she started classes. TCU told Doe she did not meet the requirements and did not explain further, according to the suit. Doe contends she exceeded the requirements.
▪ Doe was segregated from white students during one of her courses and when she joined the moot court team at TCU.
▪ TCU selected Doe for an honors summer program in Washington, D.C., but Doe said that was her third choice. TCU offered to pay for about half of the fee. Doe contends in the lawsuit that the honors college did this to falsely promote itself as a diverse institution to the public and the school it would be coordinating with, the Jandoli School of Communication at St. Bonaventure University.
As evidence of this, Doe said honors college staff followed her and the other minority student around D.C. through the entire trip, taking photos of them.
She also said she was “segregated and dehumanized” for most of the 2019 program.
▪ Doe said she suffered blisters after walking for miles in the hot weather. Asthma also made the long trips difficult, she said.
Doe said that Snow insisted Doe continue to walk with the group and mocked her in front of Doe’s peers. Additionally, Snow pushed Doe on the back on two occasions, according to the lawsuit.
Doe filed a formal complaint with the university when she returned from the summer program and met with Turner with the Title IX office in September. Turner said Doe would be “seeing some changes in staff,” the suit says.
As of Wednesday, all TCU employees named in the suit remained in their positions at the university, TCU confirmed via email.
According to the suit, Doe has not received a follow-up from the Title IX office.
▪In August, Mack and Chimbel accused Doe of plagiarism and told her she would not receive credit for the summer courses.
Doe reached out to Garnett to appeal the claim. Garnett sent a statement to TCU’s honors college about Doe, saying she performed well in all aspects of the course.
At the end of his note, the suit says, Garnett wrote that Doe was “socially isolated” from other members of the group “given the unspoken dynamic of her being the only African-American female on the trip.”
The honors college denied Doe’s appeal of the plagiarism accusation and failing grade on Nov. 5.
The day after, Doe disappeared.
Her family eventually found her “sitting alone in her car expressionless,” the lawsuit says. She had been sitting in the car for hours after calling the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.
The lawsuit accuses TCU of fraud and violating the Civil Rights Act, Title IX, the Rehabilitation Act and the Americans with Disabilities Act.
To share your experiences at TCU, contact reporter Kaley Johnson at kjohnson@star-telegram.com.
This story was originally published January 23, 2020 at 12:52 PM.
