Patrick Henry, Police Respond to Assault Allegations

By Danielle Nadler
Leesburg Today
February 20, 2014

http://www.leesburgtoday.com/news/patrick-henry-police-respond-to-rape-allegations-case-was-reported/article_4535e5ba-9a74-11e3-989d-001a4bcf887a.html

he quiet campus of Patrick Henry College has drawn national attention this week after an investigative article by magazine The New Republic detailed allegations that the college administration brushed aside reports of sexual assault from several former students.

The article details the stories of three former female students who say they were sexually assaulted—and another who was sexually harassed—by PHC students and were encouraged, or in some cases out-right told, by deans not to report the incidents to the police.

The article quotes an email from one student who said she was assaulted by a classmate, in the end, “nothing came of it. The school consistently prioritizes keeping its spot-free image (necessary to maintain its far-right, hyper evangelical donor base happy), over the well being of its students.”

Allegations of sexual assault from one former Patrick Henry student quoted in the article, Claire Smith—who said a classmate assaulted her in early May 2010—align with a report filed with the Purcellville Police Department that same week.

Thursday, Purcellville Police Chief Darryl Smith confirmed his department received the report May 10, 2010, when a young man came to the police station and said he’d heard of a party involving under-age drinking where a Patrick Henry student was possibly sexually assaulted or raped. Smith said Purcellville Police’s investigation later revealed the party had been at Sleeter Lake near Round Hill, and the case was given to the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office because the incident occurred outside the town police department’s jurisdiction.

The Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office is responding to a request from Leesburg Today for information about the report.

Smith knew of no other reports of sexual assault that had been reported to Purcellville Police by the college since it opened in 2000.

As far as colleges go, the criminal activity at Patrick Henry is very quiet, according to the police chief. On occasion, his department will receive reports of under-age drinking and, one time, complaints of a student streaking but little else.

“We can’t force [PHC] to report to us,” Smith said.

Patrick Henry is not subject to federal laws that would require it to report criminal activity that occurs on campus. Because it is one of four private colleges in the United States that does not accept any federal funding, the college is not subject to the Clery Act or Title IX.

The Cleary Act states that schools must issue campus crime reports. Title IX requires schools to hold an investigation independent of a criminal investigation and ensure that victims can change dorm assignments and class schedules, get campus restraining orders, and receive help filing a police report if they choose to do so.

According to the school’s Campus Health & Safety Manual, students are advised to “call 9-1-1 first, then Campus Security for all crimes.”

Of harassment, the manual states it is “never tolerated,” and tells students to “immediately call 9-1-1 and then Campus Safety… Counseling is available.” The school policy also states “all actual, suspected, or alleged crimes shall be immediately reported to local law enforcement.”

In response to the The New Republic article, Patrick Henry Director of Communications David Halbrook read a statement to the school’s 320 students in chapel Wednesday. It stated that the article is imbalanced, inaccurate and that its thesis, that women are treated less favorably than men at PHC, “is categorically false.”

He told the students that the college has been reviewing its procedures for handling situations. “In fact, before this article was published the College had already commissioned a specialized legal firm to undertake an audit of our sexual harassment policy and procedures, both to review past events and to recommend further improvements,” he said. “Our greatest regret is that any student, female or male, would leave our campus feeling as if they were not valued or cared for.”

Purcellville Mayor Bob Lazaro, reached for comment in Berlin, Germany, said he had not heard anything about any forms of sexual harassment or assault at the college prior to the article. He said he forwarded the article to the Purcellville police chief.

The article was the first Purcellville Town Manager Rob Lohr had heard of any allegations of violence at the college, until he was informed by the police chief this morning of the May 2010 complaint.

“We take any charges very seriously," Lohr said.