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MONDAY, MARCH 21, 2016 | VOLUME 130 ISSUE 16
THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THE STUDENT VOICE SINCE 1904
Photo illustration by Roxy Townsend/KANSAN 2016, following her alleged sexual assault.
Daisy Tackett was a member of Student Senate before withdrawing from the University in January 2016, following her alleged sexual assault.
▶ MIRANDA DAVIS
VICKY DIAZ-CAMACHO
KELLY CORDINGLEY
@KansanNews
The parents of a former University student who was allegedly sexually assaulted on campus have sued KU. The class-action lawsuit alleges KU did not provide safe housing for their daughter, who says she was assaulted by a KU football player in Jayhawker Towers in November 2014.
Amanda and James Tackett, whose daughter Daisy enrolled at the University in the Fall 2014 and left in January 2016, allege in the lawsuit that the University did not fulfill its promise for safe housing. The complaint also alleges that Tackett was harassed on campus after the assault.
Daisy was on the rowing team and also served as a student senator during her time at KU. According to the Dallas Morning News, she left the University in January because of the alleged assault and the University's handling of it.
Dan Curry, of Brown and Curry LLC, is one of the lawyers representing Tackett's parents. He said one purpose of this case is to force the University to change its marketing.
"There's no mention in [promotional] videos of the problem of sexual assault in KU residence halls," he said. "To say, 'Put them here, we'll take care of them, and they'll be safe,' and not say that sexual assault happens
every year in the Jayhawker Towers, that's what needs to change, and that's the feeling behind the Tackett's lawsuit.
Curry said the University led the Tacketts to believe they were sending their daughter to a safe environment.
"Looking at it from a parents' perspective, from a consumer's perspective, you ask, 'Did I get what I was led to believe I was paying for?' And for the Tackets, that was a safe college experience for their daughter." Curry said.
Daisy said in a statement to the Kansan that she thinks the University needs to be held accountable and hopes the lawsuit will create change.
In addition to the horrific assault of our daughter, we are concerned for the safety of all students at KU.
Amanda Tackett Daisy Tackett's mother
"I fully support my parents and their decision to sue," Daisy said in her statement. "I think KU needs to be held accountable and I want to see KU become a better place. I hope they will address the way they advertise their school."
She added: "It's obviously not a safe place to send your kids and my parents learned that the hard way.
The lawsuit, which was filed in Douglas County district court on Friday, is a class action suit filed on behalf of the Tacketts and any University student "similarly situated" who attended in the past three years before the lawsuit was filed. It seeks relief of tuition and housing as well as an injunction for KU to stop advertising on-campus housing as safe until it is proven.
I left a week into the spring semester; I went to two days of classes and then withdrew."
According to the lawsuit, when Daisy went to the Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access, the campus office charged with handling cases of sexual assault, the office was slow to respond and offer resources during the investigation.
"We feel the University cannot say their campus and their dorms are safe unless they really are safe," Amanda Tackett, Daisy's mother, said in a press release. "In addition to the horrific assault of our daughter, we are concerned for the safety of all students at KU. We believe there are many more victims of on-campus crimes in the dorms. Had we known this, we would not have considered KU as an option."
The family is suing the University under the Kansas Consumer Protection Act, and alleges that the University did not fulfill its commercial promises made to students and families about safe housing.
"In its attempts to solicit students to enroll in the university, KU has repeatedly represented to Plaintiffs and other prospective or current students or their family members that KU's residence halls are safe and secure," the lawsuit says. "These representations are false."
"In truth, KU's residence halls have for years been home to a known, persistent and growing problem of instances of sexual assault. Plaintiffs' daughter and many other residents of KU's dormitories have been sexually assaulted while residing at KU's residence halls', both before and after KU made widespread representations of safety and security."
It cites 27 different instances of specific sexual assaults,cleary data and public statements from University officials that the lawsuit alleges prove the unsafe nature of on-campus housing.
However University representatives disagree with the nature of the lawsuit.
"The suggestion that our residence halls are unsafe or that we misrepresent campus safety in our student recruitment is baseless," Erinn Barcomb-Peterson, director for news and media relations, said in an email. "This lawsuit accurately portrays the environment at the University of Kansas and our ongoing efforts to ensure students are safe and aware of their surroundings."
Edited by Cassidy Ritter
Government officials aim to help students manage college finances
▶ LARA KORTE
@lara_korte
Secretary of Education John King held a conference call with college journalists Friday afternoon to discuss how the government is working to help students manage federal loan repayment.
The average amount of debt for a student graduating from the University is about $30,000, according
King spoke about the value of a college education, and said for many, it is the "clearest path to the middle class." However, King also acknowledged the hopes and dreams of a career and stable income do not come without some harsh facts.
to Jeffery Heppler, senior peer educator with Student Money Management Services at the University, who recently spoke to the Kansan about the costs of financing higher education.
King said the Obama administration has taken measures over the past seven years to make repayment simpler, including an income-driven repayment plan that lets borrowers cap their payments at 10 percent of their income, and the Public Service Loan
"I know that with those dreams come the reality of how much they can cost. It's the reality that you and your peers have grappled with." King said.
Forgiveness program.
King said students often shy away from public service jobs because they are afraid their salary will not be enough to pay off student loans. However, with the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, students who pursue careers such as nursing, education or positions within non-profits can
SEE EDUCATION
PAGE 2
University clears professor who used racial slur in class
Contributed
Assistant communications
professor Andrea Quenette
ASSOCIATED PRESS
A four-month investigation into a University of Kansas professor who used a racial slur in class has concluded the word was used in an educational context and not intended to be racist.
Assistant communication studies professor Andrea Quenette has been on paid leave since November, when a group of eight graduate students filed a discrimination complaint after she used the slur in response to a question in class.
The university's Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access notified her on Friday that she did not violate the school's nondiscrimination or racial and ethnic harassment policies when she used the word, the Lawrence Journal-World reported.
"This word is offensive, but it was used in the context of retelling a factual event that occurred at another campus," Quenette said, summarizing what the university wrote in a letter explaining its conclusion. "It was not used in racial animus."
The discussion occurred on Nov. 12, a day after a heated, campuswide hall forum on race. Her comment was in response to a student's question about how to best talk about the event and racial issues with other students.
Quenette responded that as a white woman it was difficult to relate to others' challenges because she has not experienced racial discrimination herself, according to both Quenette and students.
Then she noted that unlike on other campuses where there had been
visible racist acts and assaults, she had not seen the racial slur — she used the actual slur — spray-painted on walls at KU.
"Dr. Quenette's deployment of racially violent rhetoric not only creates a non-inclusive environment in opposition to one of the University of Kansas' core tenets, but actively destroys the very possibility of realizing those values and goals," the graduate students, some of whom weren't in the class at the time, wrote in their complaints.
Jyleesa Hampton, a first-year communications graduate student who is black, signed the open letter but was not in the class. She said Friday that the office's conclusion that Quenette didn't violate policy doesn't mean her comments weren't perceived as racist by those who received them.
This word is offensive, but it was used in the context of retelling a factual event that occurred at another campus,"
Andrea Quenette Assistant communication studies professor
The University recommended that Quenette undergo cultural competency training, re-evaluate orientation curriculum to include more diversity support and pair up with a faculty member. The school also recommended possibly reassigning duties within the communications department.
University spokesman Joe Monaco confirmed Friday that the investigation was complete and that all involved parties had been notified of the outcome. University administrators won't comment on the findings, Monaco said, citing confidentiality.
Information from:
Lawrence (Kan.)
Journal-World.
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