UT Austin lifts suspension on male student who had consensual sex with an intoxicated female student

Yolostone · 2017-11-27T20:48:00+00:00

Sources:

http://cbsaustin.com/news/local/ut-president-to-appear-in-federal-court-monday

http://www.statesman.com/news/student-sexual-misconduct-case-settled-fenves-does-not-testify/G64ZU9LisF0Wr3XCInBEsO/

I've read a few stories on the case and this is what I gleaned (objectively):

In 2016, a male and a female student hooked up after a sorority party. The article states the female student was intoxicated, but doesn't say anything about the male student's intoxication. The male student says that he was given consent, and they had sex. Based on the article, both parties agree that a "yes" was given.

A few days later, the female student was questioning whether or not she was able to give consent, since she was incapacitated. She filed a complaint against the male student, stating retroactively withdrawing her consent, saying she was too intoxicated to give consent.

The University of Texas at Austin conducted an investigation, and absolved the male student of any wrongdoings at a university hearing, stating that, based on the descriptions of the night, was acting rationally. However, UT's president, Gregory Fenves, suspended the male student for 5 semesters.

At federal court, a "settlement has been reached." According to the male student's lawyer, he has been reinstated and the university will make no further investigation.

My opinion (I am a male student of UT Austin):

I think it's really stupid that UT Austin considered this case of retroactively withdrawing consent. According to the article, there are/were to competing policies regarding sexual activity:

1)“Yes Means Yes.”

2)“someone who is intoxicated cannot give consent to sexual activity because they are incapacitated.” -this is stated by the president, Fenves

I think it's ridiculous that students can use policy #2 to counteract policy #1, as was done in this case. If I had to guess, the female student regretting having sex with the male student and was looking at absolving herself of being called a "slut" or something of the like, since multiple authorities say that she was acting rationally that night despite being intoxicated.

Another thing I noticed was the complete lack of mention of the male's state of intoxication in either article. It seems important, as the scenario becomes quite different if he wasn't intoxicated (i.e. was he trying to get her drunk?). Since they were at a party, I bet he was as well. However, media tends to sympathize with the "victim," and stating that the male perpetrator was intoxicated as well weakens the "victim's" stance. I also think that the article would make sure to include that the male was not intoxicated, if that were really the case.

As always, if we flip the genders in this scenario, there would be no articles and the guy would get laughed at. Imagine a guy retroactively withdrawing his consent and if any authority would give a rat's ass.

I just feel bad for the unnamed student. The incident was in 2016, and it's nearing the end of 2017. He definitely missed out on at least 1 semester, and missed registration for the next. That is a huge interruption to his education. His name is also definitely stained, despite him being completely absolved.

RedFox3001 · 2017-11-28T08:37:16+00:00

In cases like this is it not possible to immediately counter sue for exactly the same thing?

So the man could also retrospectively withdrawn consent in exactly the same way. Then they’d have a mirror image case against each other. Surely this would highlight any glaring sexism as each argument and counter argument would be identical.

icecoldpopsicle · 2017-11-28T14:07:43+00:00

Where there names Jake and Josie ?

Title	UT Austin lifts suspension on male student who had consensual sex with an intoxicated female student
Author	Yolostone
Upvotes	197
Comments	12
Date	November 27, 2017 8:27 PM UTC (8 years ago)
Subreddit	Posted in /r/PussyPassDenied
Original Link	https://old.reddit.com/r/pussypassdenied/comments/7fy5xq/ut_austin_lifts_suspension_on_male_student_who/
Archive Link	https://theredarchive.com/r/PussyPassDenied/ut-austin-lifts-suspension-on-male-student-who-had.910331 https://theredarchive.com/post/910331

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