For both students, the night of Aug. 22, 2015, had not gone as planned. And their brief alcohol-drenched, party-fueled interaction — not unlike so many others on the nation’s college campuses — would derail both of their lives for much of an academic year and probably beyond. To him, in that moment, it was a thrilling hookup at a party. To her — as she now sees it — it was a terrifying assault. To U-Va., it was another drunken mess with no good answers.
The case is emblematic of the widespread frustrations faced by students, parents and administrators as they confront a problem that has existed for decades: the caustic combination of alcohol, drugs and sex, at times exacerbated by assault and predation. It also highlights the problems the Charlottesville flagship has had with alcohol and partying.
Recent misconduct investigations on the nation’s campuses, some involving NCAA athletes, have reinvigorated a widespread discussion about college sexual assault. Allegations involving the football program at Baylor University forced the resignation of its president and the ouster of its football coach. At Yale University, the captain of the basketball team sat out the school’s historic run to the NCAA tournament because he was fighting his expulsion for an alleged sex offense.