Former student sues TCU, alleges mishandling of rapes, sexual assaults
A former student has filed a $100 million federal lawsuit against TCU, accusing school officials of mishandling her rape allegation and of creating a culture that tolerates sexual assaults on campus.
In a statement, a university spokesperson called the plaintiff’s accusations false and said the university followed proper protocol in handling the alleged rape.
“TCU’s first priority is always to protect the safety and well-being of our students,” the statement read.
According to the lawsuit, filed Sept. 10 in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, the student, referred to as Emily Doe, was raped in her TCU dorm room on Oct. 6, 2024.
Records from a Title IX hearing that were included in the complaint show the university conducted an investigation and that a panel comprising faculty and staff members determined unanimously that nonconsensual intercourse took place.
The alleged perpetrator, whose name was withheld from the lawsuit, was put on probation with the university and moved to a different dorm than the woman, according to the lawsuit. Additionally, he was ordered to retake a student sexual assault education course and write a reflection paper on the topic of mutual consent.
The plaintiff said these consequences were inadequate given the circumstances.
“TCU imposed no real punishment at all on the rapist,” the lawsuit reads. “Instead, it gave him homework — write a 3-4 page paper on the importance of mutual consent and discuss it, in private, with a TCU faculty member. And rewatch the short videos on consent he had been required to watch in orientation just six weeks before raping Emily. TCU also decided to move him to another dorm, without warning to the residents therein.”
However, the university’s statement said the man was suspended and is no longer a student at TCU.
“We take sexual assault claims seriously, and to spread false allegations... is irresponsible and a dangerous mischaracterization of our students and our institution,” the statement read. “In any event, we will not accede to her lawyer’s repeated threats of an orchestrated media attack if we do not pay tens of millions of dollars.”
The plaintiff, who was a first-year student at the time of the alleged assault, is represented by attorneys from the O’Hagan Meyer law firm’s Richmond, Virginia, office.
Accusations that TCU looked the other way
The lawsuit accused TCU of “enforcing a policy of imposing no real consequences on male students who rape fellow female students.” It alleged the university does not want to offend “male students who rape or the parents who pay more than $82,000 per year for their sons to attend TCU.”
The complaint further alleged that TCU’s sexual assault policy was merely designed to “create the illusion” of protection for female students.
“The de facto policy is, ‘Boys will be boys, and we can’t let a moment of poor judgment that results in a rape ruin a boy’s life, regardless of how it affects the girl’s,’” reads the lawsuit.
What happened in the plaintiff’s TCU dorm room?
Documents included in the lawsuit filing show the woman and man knew each other and had met up at a bar on the evening of Oct. 5, 2024. In a formal complaint filed with TCU, the woman said she invited the man back to her dorm room and that they made out. The woman said she fell asleep with her dress still on at around 3:15 a.m. on Oct. 6. That is when the man allegedly sexually assaulted her.
The woman said she woke up and immediately told the man to leave, which he did. He claimed he thought the intercourse was consensual, according to the Title IX hearing cited in the lawsuit.
Immediately after, the woman said, she called a friend and contacted TCU’s sexual assault hotline. The next day, she allegedly confronted the man in her dorm room with her roommate as a witness. She filed the formal complaint on Oct. 15.
This story was originally published September 10, 2025 at 6:10 PM.