Earlier today, the University of North Carolina announced it was suspending student judicial proceedings against Lauren Gambill, the sophomore who publicly stated she was raped, only to have the accused rapist turn around and file charges against her for intimidating him. This comes less than 24 hours after Gambill filed a federal civil rights claim against Carolina alleging that the Honor Court charges amount to retaliation.
Gambill is one of five women who asked the U.S. Education Department's Office of Civil Rights to look into what they called an atmosphere of sexual violence at the school. She maintains that the honor code violation was retribution by the university for filing the complaint and speaking publicly about her case.
On Monday, her attorney said she had filed a second complaint with the Office of Civil Rights, alleging that the university was trying to intimidate her. Attorney Clay Turner asked Chancellor Holden Thorp to dismiss the Honor Court case against Gambill.
Thorp said Tuesday that he asked the case to be suspended until an outside review of the retaliation claim could be investigated.
Carolina really had no other choice in this matter. The fact we're even at this point is a black mark on my beloved alma mater (class of '00). Whoever made the decision to let this case against Gambill go through forgot two things. First, this case is a textbook SLAPP designed to cow rape victims into silence. Second, while the Honor Court is student-run, it is legally an agent of the state owing to Carolina's status as a state school.
Gambill's complaint alleges that Carolina officials are trying to discredit her. It cites a potentially damning quote by Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Winston Crisp to Carrboro Mayor Mark Chilton. Crisp wrote that he could envision "no circumstances where the good faith report of a rape would result in Honor Court charges." The most benign interpretation of that statement is that it came at a disastrously bad time. Sounds to me like the assistant student attorney generals who let this case against Gambill go through aren't the only ones who have some explaining to do.