TCU and Black women who alleged discrimination, racism at university reach settlement
A lawsuit filed against Texas Christian University by five Black women who said their reports of discrimination, racism and harassment were ignored by the university reached a settlement this week.
The civil rights suit, which was initially filed by one student before another four joined with claims of their own and filed together in June 2020, argued that “over a century of hateful campus culture [had] gone unchecked.” In court documents, TCU denied the allegations.
Court records Thursday showed Chief Judge Barbara M.G. Lynn, of U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, wrote a letter requesting dismissal papers by Nov. 18, saying “it has come to the Court’s attention that this case has settled.” The case was settled through mediation, according to court documents.
The terms of the settlement agreement remain unknown. It’s unclear whether the university agreed to make any changes to address the allegations of discrimination or paid a monetary settlement to the women who sued.
Attorneys for the plaintiffs and the defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment Friday regarding further details on the settlement, but a spokesperson for the university said they “are in the process of concluding the lawsuit in a manner acceptable to all parties.”
“We are thankful for this result, as all parties are members of the TCU community,” the spokesperson said, also declining to share additional details.
The first plaintiff in the suit claimed that in 2018 and 2019 she was harassed, discriminated against, and physically assaulted while attending the university. She also said that TCU revoked her merit-based scholarship without explanation, segregated her from white classmates, falsely accused her of plagiarism and ignored her reports of racism.
Other women in the suit claimed that their Title IX investigations were ignored, or stalled, and that the university’s environment was hostile to African-American and Black students, with allegations that they were called racial slurs and and subjected to racist behavior in academic departments.
Staff writer Megan Cardona contributed to this report, which also includes information from the Star-Telegram’s archives.
This story was originally published November 5, 2021 at 2:16 PM.
