Feds Launch Investigation Into Handling Of Rape Cases At Columbia University
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The federal government has opened an investigation into how reports of rape on campus are investigated at Columbia University.
As WCBS 880's Alex Silverman reported Tuesday, the U.S. Department of Education has begun two investigations into claims that Columbia and the affiliated women's-only Barnard College violated Title IX against sex discrimination.
Zoe Ridolfi-Starr said she was sexually assaulted the summer after of her freshman year. She is now a senior.
"It's such a relief," she said.
She is one of the lead voices in the 500-page complaint against Columbia.
"To have people finally taking us seriously -- the dozens and dozens of survivors who have come forward," Ridolfi-Starr said.
Feds Launch Investigation Into Handling Of Rape Cases At Columbia University
Columbia made national headlines last fall when Columbia senior Emma Sulkowicz inspired a day of protest over the handling of sexual assault at the university.
She said she was the victim of a 2012 sexual assault, but she said her alleged attacker was never investigated.
Sulkowicz said the accusations were dismissed because it was found to be more likely than not that the rape didn't happen. But Sukowicz insists it did. She said the man has merely been order not to contact her in any way.
She gained notoriety for carrying a mattress around campus, and saying she would continue doing so until the alleged rapist was expelled.
The university told WCBS 880 in a statement that it will fully cooperate with the Department of Education Civil Rights Office, adding that it has already changed some policies and has more reforms in the works.
Ridolfi-Starr said the investigation is what could lead to real change.
"I will have been long graduated and probably well into law school before anything actually comes out of this, but I do think eventually the outcome will be in our favor," she said.
The federal government could force Columbia to reopen old cases or compensate survivors.
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