Washington — The American Association of University Women Legal Advocacy Fund is pleased to recognize an important victory in the ongoing battle to prevent sexual harassment and assault on university campuses with the settlement agreement between Lisa Simpson and the University of Colorado at Boulder (CU).
The settlement agreement provides $2.5 million to Simpson and requires that the university create a new position in the Office of Victim Assistance and hire an independent adviser to monitor the school’s compliance with federal sex discrimination laws. Simpson requested a lower settlement amount in exchange for the new personnel.
A former student at CU, Simpson sued the university under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 for failing to remedy the sexually hostile environment on campus that led to her sexual assault and harassment by university football recruits and players. She alleged that in December 2001, she and another female student were sexually assaulted by numerous football recruits and players. Simpson and her roommate reported the events to CU’s vice chancellor for student affairs and the director of the university’s Office of Victim Assistance the following day. Although the university charged the students involved with code of conduct violations, it declined to pursue sexual assault charges against them. In addition, none of the football players lost his eligibility to play in any subsequent football games.
Simpson took legal action against the school to ensure the protection of women students. Throughout the suit, Simpson advocated nationwide reforms to college and university policies to improve the treatment and safety of women on campuses. CU itself overhauled its football recruiting program, and several top officials, including the chancellor and the football coach, resigned in the aftermath.
“From the beginning of this case, Lisa Simpson's goal was to do everything she could to increase the safety of all students on campus and prevent what happened to her from happening again,” said Simpson’s attorney, Kimberly Hult.
The AAUW Legal Advocacy Fund adopted the case in February 2005 and provided over $35,000 in financial support.
“Lisa appreciates so much the support of the AAUW Legal Advocacy Fund and the many AAUW members she has met. The wide-ranging and continuous support of the AAUW has been very important to Lisa and her legal team throughout what was a long and difficult battle,” said Hult.
Learn more about sex discrimination on campus.
View the full case summary of Simpson v. University of Colorado at Boulder
