Dive Brief:

• A Brown University student accused of raping and choking another student at the university has decided he will not return in the fall after serving a suspension.
• The student, Daniel Kopin, was suspended for one semester after Brown found him responsible for three sexual misconduct offenses, including “sexual misconduct that includes one or more of the following: penetration, violent physical force, or injury.”
• The victim, Lena Sclove, went public with the case last week, revealing that Kopin was due to return to campus.

Dive Insight:

This scenario seems to play out over and over again at U.S. colleges and universities: A rape victim is encouraged or pressured to bypass a police complaint in favor of justice through the school’s system, and she feels re-traumatized by the process while her attacker is treated with leniency. In this case, Kopin claims that he had a consensual relationship with Sclove. Sclove says she was attacked and then reported it five days later to Brown, who encouraged her to use the school’s disciplinary process to bring justice and aid in her healing, the Providence Journal reported.

A student conduct board recommended a two-year suspension for Kopin, which would have allowed Sclove to complete her degree while he was gone. But it was knocked back to one year, and because he was allowed to stay on campus while the hearing process played out, he was actually gone for about one semester. Sclove eventually reported the alleged attack to police, about seven months after it occurred. She says she now suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and is on medical leave.