Almost one year after filing a complaint of sexual abuse with the College, sophomore Emily Stephens is now alleging that the College mishandled her case.
In an interview with The Dartmouth, Stephens claimed she was persuaded to participate in mediation rather than go through a Committee on Standards hearing. She said she was later encouraged to signing a mediation agreement and was treated unfairly during the month-and-a-half the College was handling her case.
All administrators whom Stephens said were involved in the case declined to comment yesterday on the specifics of the case. The administrators said they could not because of issues of confidentiality.
Administrators are bound by confidentiality in all complaints filed with the College until the student involved chooses to make the case public.
Stephens said in the final week of Spring term last year, she went to her class dean, Dean of Freshmen Peter Goldsmith, to report an incident that allegedly occurred earlier in the term.
Stephens said she could not comment on the nature of the complaint, on the identity of the other party, or on the mediation process, because the mediation agreement she signed last summer does not allow her to discuss that information.
But in a section of her complaint to Goldsmith, forwarded to The Dartmouth by an anonymous source, Stephens said she was sexually abused.
According to the College's Student Handbook, "Sexual abuse includes but is not limited to: conduct of a sexual nature which reasonably would be expected to have the effect of threatening or intimidating the person at whom such conduct is directed; intentional physical contact with an intimate part of the body of another person without that person's consent ..."
Stephens said Goldsmith offered to be her adviser for the case and she agreed.
"He's a very nice person," she said. "I had had some interactions with him previously in the term and I had thought he was really caring when dealing with people."
But throughout the entire case, Stephens said she felt Goldsmith was not looking out for her interests enough and said he "even characterized himself as a middleman."
Goldsmith refused to comment on the case. "I only hope people understand I am bound by my responsibility to this student as I am to all students," he said. "It would be inappropriate for me to comment."
Stephens said Goldsmith suggested she file an official complaint, which he said would be dealt with when she returned to campus in the fall.
The College's Sexual Assault Protocol says "victims should be urged very strongly to speak with the Coordinator [of the Sexual Awareness and Abuse Program] immediately upon reporting an incident (even if the incident took place in the distant past) in order that a complete assessment of the victim's physical and psychological well being can be made at the time."
Stephens said following the incident, she spoke briefly with Heather Earle, the former coordinator of sexual awareness and abuse programs. But Stephens said Goldsmith did not suggest that she seek any sort of support.
The day after she filed her complaint, Stephens said she returned home to Crosby, Tex.
Calls from Dartmouth
Three weeks into her summer vacation, Stephens said she received a call from Goldsmith telling her the other party had been served with the charges and "that the COS is going to proceed with formal charges."
Stephens said Goldsmith then asked her whether she would spend her own money to fly up to campus to settle the matter.
Stephens said she received numerous phone calls from Goldsmith about the issue over the next several weeks. About one week after Goldsmith's first phone call, Stephens said she received a phone call from Judicial Affairs Officer Marcia Kelly.
Stephens said Kelly told her the other party "had threatened to sue anybody and everybody involved" if the case went to the COS.
College Counsel Cary Clark said yesterday a person would be unlikely to lose a libel or slander lawsuit if "they are telling the truth or are not intentionally misrepresenting the situation." But Clark said he does not have extensive experience in this area of the law, and also said "one can never prevent someone from initiating a lawsuit."
Stephens said she felt threatened by the idea of a lawsuit because of her financial situation. "I don't have the money to hire a lawyer to go through a long legal battle," she said.
Stephens said she suggested the two parties might try to talk out their disagreements to avoid a potential lawsuit.
"At that time [Kelly] told me that these types of cases never, ever, ever go to mediation," Stephens said.
Stephens said two days after speaking to Kelly, Goldsmith suggested that Stephens participate in a "facilitated conversation" rather than a COS hearing.
Senior Associate Dean of the College Dan Nelson said yesterday the difference between mediation and a facilitated conversation depends on who is using the words.
Stephens said she objected to the idea of mediation at the beginning of the conversation but said Goldsmith eventually persuaded her to go through with mediation.
"Basically, I finally agreed," she said. "Yes, COS always remained an option, there would be no harm in trying it and maybe I wouldn't get sued -- those were maybe three of Dean Goldsmith's reasons that stood out in my mind."
Dean of the College Lee Pelton released a report last May dealing with revisions to the College's disciplinary system. Pelton recommended "deans and other advisors exercise great discretion in suggesting a role for mediation in sexual abuse cases and that they encourage students to make full use of the College's resources for addressing sexual abuse."
Pelton, who chairs the COS, was unavailable for comment yesterday.
Mediation
In order for her to attend the mediation, Stephens said the College agreed to pay for her $1,100 airfare, her meals for two days and housed her on-campus during the process.
"They put me in the same dorm as the other party -- I couldn't believe that," she said. "Not until I complained about that and expressed how appalled I was that they would even think of doing something, did they hunt around and move me to a dorm in the River."
Stephens said she did not want the proceedings to be confidential. She said the other party involved wanted confidentiality, and the College sided with the other person. Under the terms of the agreement Stephens said she would only be allowed to discuss the mediation with her parents.
"I wasn't particularly happy about that, but [Goldsmith] told me if it was to go to a COS hearing, the same type of confidentiality issues would apply," Stephens said. "So that seemed like a pretty persuasive argument to me."
Stephens said the College did not refer her to any support groups on campus before she went through with the mediation.
After mediation, Stephens said she still wanted to take the case to the COS. But she said the College required her to tell the other party whether she was going to pursue a COS hearing by the end of the day.
"To me, without being able to talk to anybody, without being able to talk to my mother about the best decision, or my father, or my sister, it was just a really, really hard decision," she said.
Stephens said she arranged to speak to the mediator for "some kind of guidance." The mediator and Goldsmith "basically reiterated to me that COS always remains an option but that I might not get as much as I wanted if I went to COS, that I might not win if I went to COS, that I might still get sued if I went to COS, that it seemed like [the other party] was truly sorry for what [he] did [and] that [he] probably won't do it again," Stephens said
On her way home that day, Stephens said she decided she would not bring the case to the COS.
In the ensuing days, Stephens said the College worked on "solidifying the documents" to end the mediation.
Stephens said the other party did not want her to talk about the mediation, but Stephens said she told Goldsmith she did not want a "gag order."
Stephens said the other party had much more leverage with the College than she did. "I just felt the other party's desires being followed much more readily than mine," she said.
The other party "could visit and talk one-on-one with administrators every day whereas the only contact I had was with one administrator and that was just with the phone calls he had time for," she said.
Stephens said Goldsmith told her to list the people she would tell about the incident. She said she told him she wanted it to be an unlimited number of people. "He said 'No, I need a number,' " she said. "And I said, 'Fine. I'll take it to COS, there I can tell anybody I want.' "
Stephens said Goldsmith then said, "Well, it would be a shame to have come so close and have to give up over a number, over an issue of confidentiality."
Stephens said the two of them then began to "haggle" over a number. She said she suggested 20 and they finally compromised on four, in addition to a short list of named people. Any amendments to the final documents were delivered to her orally Stephens said, until she demanded otherwise.
Reopening the case
Stephens said once she signed the completed documents, the College did not contact her about the case until this spring, when Goldsmith called to remind her about the confidentiality of the mediation.
Stephens said she wanted to meet with Goldsmith and the mediator at that time to discuss the "gag rule" that she said continued to bother her.
At that meeting, Stephens said she discussed filing a COS complaint. She said the mediator said, "If that's what she feels she needs to do to get closure, then that might be an avenue she wants to investigate."
Also at that meeting, Stephens said she was told the mediation was not recognized by the College. Stephens said she then acquired a new advisor and went to see Kelly.
"Marcia Kelly told me I could not re-file a COS complaint and that it was implicit in our agreement," Stephens said.
Stephens said Kelly pointed to a blitz Stephens had sent to Goldsmith before mediation had occurred.
"Basically it said, 'I agree to withdraw my complaint from COS unless the mediation is unsatisfactory to me, when I understand I can follow normal COS route,' " Stephens said.
Stephens said she told Kelly she had found mediation to be "unsatisfactory," but said Kelly replied "It doesn't work that way."
Stephens said she then went to see Goldsmith, who told her that at the meeting with the mediator, he and the mediator had "expressed uncertainty" over whether Stephens could re-file her complaint.
In addition, Stephens said Goldsmith told her that "he didn't mean to be a psychologist, but this had become an obsession for me."
Stephens said Goldsmith also told her that a number of administrators involved had met to discuss the handling of the case and had decided they "had a clear conscience on the issue."
"He made the comment that I was misconstruing how the College had treated me, however I pointed to details like [having the complaint addressed in the summer], confidentiality, housing, spending money," Stephens said. "His response to that was that 'those are all technicalities.' "
