A Western Kentucky University student’s allegation that she was raped last year by a student who took her to a fraternity party and forced her to drink to excess is the focus of a lawsuit that claims the university turns a blind eye to excessive alcohol consumption at its fraternity parties.

The lawsuit was filed Feb. 7 in Warren Circuit Court on behalf of the student, who was a 20-year-old sophomore when she went to a Crush Dance function hosted by Sigma Phi Epsilon on Feb. 6, 2021, with a fraternity member who is alleged to have pressured the student into drinking several shots of alcohol, brought her back to his room at McCormack Hall and sexually assaulted her.

The lawsuit names as defendants the university, WKU President Timothy Caboni, WKU Assistant Director of Department of Student Activities Randall Bogard, WKU Assistant Director of Housing and Residence Life Minnette Ellis, WKU Student Activities Director Charley Pride, WKU Greek Life Assistant Director Andrew Rash, the WKU Interfraternity Council and its president, Tate McClard, the WKU chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon, chapter president Matthew Givens and vice president Zach Payne, the fraternity’s national organization and the fraternity’s Bowling Green-based chapter alumni and volunteer corporation.

Also named as defendants are the Sigma Phi Epsilon member alleged to have raped the student, another fraternity member alleged to have facilitated the events described in the lawsuit leading up to the alleged assault, Trident Properties, which owns the venue that hosted the Crush Dance, Kevin and Emily Williams, who own a property that hosted a Sig Ep pre-party before the Crush Dance, the Kappa Delta sorority and its WKU chapter, where the plaintiff was a member.

“This suit is about making WKU safer and we will be trying our case in court,” said attorney Nicole Bush, who represents the student who has brought the lawsuit.

The 55-page complaint seeks to hold the student accused of raping the plaintiff liable for claims of battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence.

All the named defendants face a joint liability claim based on an allegation that they failed to exercise a duty of reasonable care not to place a person in a harmful situation.

“Defendants permitted, assisted, caused, induced, aided, abetted, promoted and encouraged the overconsumption of alcohol by women and minors … and encouraged events that brought women to fraternities for the purpose of rendering them incapacitated for sexual predation,” the lawsuit said.

WKU is accused of not enforcing training on sexual assault awareness or prevention before the alleged assault reported by the plaintiff, and the suit claims no disciplinary action was imposed by the university on Sigma Phi Epsilon for any actions related to the alleged assault.

“The allegations made against WKU in this suit are untrue, and we will formally file our full response with more information in the coming days,” WKU spokesman Jace Lux said in an email to the Daily News.

Claims of negligence and gross negligence have been brought against officials from WKU and Sigma Phi Epsilon.

“The lack of oversight and leadership by the WKU parties fueled a permissive culture that recklessly ignored the illegal activity and misuse and abuse of alcohol and drugs as part of its Greek life, creating a foreseeable risk of physical and emotional harm to students in the WKU community such as occurred to (the plaintiff),” the lawsuit said.

University officials are accused of breaching their duty to warn students of the dangers of sexual predators and exploitation and forced alcohol consumption and failing to enforce its own safety and security policies by allowing the student accused of assault to take the plaintiff to his dorm room “despite her obvious incapacitation and helplessness.”

“WKU is more interested in student recruitment and raising money than in enforcing its written policies to prevent illegal use of alcohol, preventing the sexual exploitation of women and the increased likelihood of sexual predation that accompanies the use of alcohol,” the lawsuit said.

Sigma Phi Epsilon defendants are accused of failing to comply with the law regarding underage drinking and sexual abuse.

“Defendant SigEp promote and encourage getting women drunk for sexual exploitation through word of mouth, social media promotion and in concert with sororities and the WKU (defendants) in the belief that such activities will promote recruitment and fund raising,” the lawsuit said.

Heather Matthews, chief communications officer for the Sigma Phi Epsilon national organization, said Friday in an email that the WKU chapter suspended the member accused of sexual assault after becoming aware of the allegations last spring, and the fraternity has cooperated with the investigation.

“While we cannot comment on pending litigation, I can tell you that SigEp takes any allegation of sexual misconduct very seriously, as sexual assault has no place in the fraternity experience,” Matthews said. “Throughout their SigEp experience, our members are educated on prevention, safe social practices, bystander intervention and accountability, because the safety of members and guests is our top priority.”

The Kappa Delta sorority is accused of also failing to follow through on risk management training and other responsibilities, instead encouraging “members to engage in dangerous activities, such as attending fraternity events with known overconsumption of alcohol, and also promoting sexual exploitation.”

The plaintiff claims to be not aware of the existence of a risk management committee within the sorority while she was a member, and the lawsuit alleges that sorority members “ostracized other KD members who refused to drink rather than supporting their decision.”

The Williamses are alleged to have failed in their duty to eliminate unreasonable risks of danger and should have known of the likelihood of sexual abuse and exploitation resulting from excessive drinking on their premises, according to the lawsuit.

Events surrounding lawsuit

The lawsuit claims the Sigma Phi Epsilon member accused of sexual assault was set up with the plaintiff by another fraternity member to go to the Crush Dance, and that the plaintiff “had no intentions of becoming intoxicated that evening.”

The two did not know each other before the Crush Dance and conversed over social media prior to the function, and the fraternity member reportedly pressured the plaintiff to drink before the event.

On the night of the event, the plaintiff “expressed reluctance to drunk much that evening” after the Sig Ep member poured a part of a drink he ordered at a restaurant for her and a friend.

She was part of a group of four people who then went to Yosemite, a house owned by the Williamses where a pre-party was taking place in which the fraternity member accused of assaulting her poured shots of alcohol and insisted she drink them instead of the nonalcoholic beverage she brought to the venue, according to the lawsuit.

“(The plaintiff) expressed resistance but felt forced to take several shots with him,” the lawsuit said.

From there, the plaintiff was taken to the Sig Ep Compound House, where the Crush Dance took place, and she noticed that no sober monitors or security were present and none of the attendees were required to check in through a guest list.

The plaintiff said she was pressured to drink more shots at the party, at one point having it poured down her throat by the fraternity member accused of later assaulting her, according to the lawsuit.

The fraternity member “aggressively and persistently kissed” the plaintiff throughout the night, and a concerned friend called a designated driver to take herself and the plaintiff back to their dorm.

The lawsuit describes the plaintiff as “too intoxicated to walk to the car without assistance,” and once in the car, the fraternity member accused of assaulting her convinced her she was in the wrong car while her friend was in the fraternity house and brought her to McCormack Hall, the suit said.

Surveillance video footage from the dorm reportedly shows her intoxicated and unsteady on her feet, but a desk assistant at the hall checked her in and allowed the fraternity member to take her to his room, reportedly in contravention of WKU policies that require desk clerks to not check in guests who are under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

The plaintiff had “flashes of memory” of checking into the dorm, being in the fraternity member’s room and refusing his sexual advances “numerous times,” and remembers being degraded by the fraternity member and telling him he was hurting her, but he did not stop, according to the lawsuit.

The following morning, the fraternity member assaulted the plaintiff again, forcing her to perform oral sex, according to the lawsuit.

The aftermath

Afterward, the plaintiff went to The Medical Center in the early morning hours of Feb. 8, 2021, and had a sexual assault assessment which established “redness and a mild abrasion along with reports of soreness,” the lawsuit said.

She also had to take a Plan B contraceptive and was tested for sexually transmitted infections, for which she received negative results.

The plaintiff reported the incident to the Western Kentucky University Police Department on Feb. 11, 2021.

“When (the plaintiff) reported her sexual assault, a fellow Kappa Delta member and KD officer referred to (the plaintiff’s) rape as a ‘lowkey’ rape, and most members expressed agreement with that comment,” the lawsuit said.

According to the lawsuit, the police investigation “minimized” the plaintiff’s allegations and criminal charges have not been pursued by the Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office.

A redacted copy of an incident report provided by the WKUPD shows that the plaintiff was interviewed by WKU police on Feb. 20, 2021, and she told police that she became “very intoxicated” during the party and remembered that the student accused of assaulting her told her that he was interested in a romantic relationship with her, but she did not like him in that way and he was not her type.

She told police she had to be carried to a car by her friend when the student accused of assaulting her talked her into getting into a different car and going to McCormack Hall with him.

According to the police report, she said “her memory was very foggy from being intoxicated,” but she recalled that she intended to go to bed at the dorm and refused several times when the accused assailant requested to have sex with him.

She reported agreeing to oral sex, but did not remember how they started having intercourse, though she remembered telling him no and that it hurt her, the report said.

The next morning, he allegedly tried to talk the plaintiff into having sex again and she refused, telling police she performed oral sex “to keep him from having intercourse with her.”

The plaintiff told police that later in the afternoon a friend who picked her up from the dorm told her that the alleged assailant “was known to go to parties and take home random girls and then go back to his girlfriend the next day.”

Police interviewed the alleged assailant on Feb. 11, 2021, and he said the incident was a “complete misunderstanding,” the report said.

He claimed the plaintiff became intoxicated “very quickly” during the party and “he wanted her to stop drinking because she was embarrassing him.”

He also told police that the plaintiff agreed to go to his dorm and spend the night with him and walked with him to a friend’s car.

At his room, he claimed that the plaintiff began rubbing his leg and fondling him and that “at some point they engaged in sexual intercourse,” the report said.

The alleged assailant told police that he and the plaintiff talked the following morning about what happened between them the night before and then stated that she began touching him again and engaged in oral sex.

According to the incident report, the case was presented to Warren County Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Tres Miller on Feb. 26, 2021, who told police that prosecution would not be sought at that time.

The plaintiff claims to be aware of at least three other instances where a Sigma Phi Epsilon member sexually assaulted someone, and the forensics nurse at The Medical Center reported seeing similar attacks coming from WKU “weekly,” the lawsuit said.

Since the night of the fraternity function, the plaintiff’s academic performance has declined and she experiences nightmares and moments of stress and anxiety, plus she has been “damaged by ridicule and ostracism after the rape.”

“She was shunned by sorority sisters at KD and labeled a ‘buzz kill,’ ” the lawsuit said. “Her car has been keyed. Her tires have been vandalized. (The plaintiff) feels helpless and scared that others will endure what she endured because nothing is being done.”

The plaintiff says in the suit that she came forward in order to “protect other women from enduring the same experience.”