One of four former Vanderbilt University football players charged with rape will be playing for Lane College in Jackson, Tenn.
Brandon Banks is awaiting trial over the alleged rape of an unconscious female Vanderbilt student in 2013. Two of his teammates, Brandon Vandenburg and Cory Bately, were found guilty earlier this year but will get a second chance to defend themselves after a judge declared a mistrial in June.
But back to Banks and the outrage that has ensued over his acceptance to Lane College. This is exactly the kind of case that activists will point to as a reason for schools to adjudicate accusations of campus sexual assault. But this case is different than the typical he said/she said accusation investigated solely by college administrators trained to believe the accuser above all else.
Schools have an obligation to keep their campuses safe, and in this case, despite the players being innocent until proven guilty, the universities have a reasonable belief that campus safety could be at issue.
For one, the police actually investigated this claim and were able to obtain video and photo evidence of the attack. Even without a trial, a reasonable person could believe these students presented a plausible risk to the rest of the students. The players were also arrested.
On Twitter, professor and author K.C. Johnson (who co-wrote the book on the Duke Lacrosse rape hoax) explained that schools “certainly” have a right and an obligation “to suspend students officially charged with serious felonies,” as the Vanderbilt players were. I agree.
This is not a case where a woman came forward with an accusation without any evidence or witnesses. In those cases, immediately suspending or otherwise punishing accused students while the university, not the police, investigates is discriminatory, as the schools are being bound by political pressure and not truth or justice.
And just to note, the school did investigate the Vanderbilt case and proved why colleges and universities should not be handling these cases in the first place. The reason the Vanderbilt students were charged rested in large part on the discovery of photo and video evidence of the crime — something the school had no authority to obtain. The school’s own investigation found the students not responsible because of the lack of evidence.
Banks was initially signed to play at Butte College in California, but the school rescinded its offer due to the pending criminal charges. Lane College may follow suit after a media backlash.
This case is not an example for all accusations of campus sexual assault. For one thing, the victim in this case didn’t bring forth the accusation. She didn’t even know she had been assaulted until she heard rumors and saw the video evidence.
This case is an example of what schools can do when a student is charged with a felony by the police. In that case, and based on the evidence available to the school that was obtained by the police, the school should take action to remove a potential threat to the school. But taking such extreme steps based solely on an accusation and no evidence of any actual danger is the wrong way to go.
This case is a perfect — albeit tragic and disturbing — example of how these cases should be handled by the police and the university (in the aftermath of the charges, not the way it conducted its own investigation).
Lane College has enough evidence in this case to believe Banks poses a reasonable threat to its students, just as Vanderbilt and Butte did.
