By Robert J. Romano, JD LLM, Senior Writer
On August 25, 2022, Jane Doe filed a civil complaint in the Superior Court of California, County of San Diego, against two former San Diego State football players, punter Matthew Araiza, the sixth-round draft pick of the Buffalo Bills, and defensive lineman Nowlin “Pa’a” Ewaliko, together with red-shirt freshman, Zavier Leonard. Per the complaint, Ms. Doe alleges that on Sunday, October 17, 2021, while admittingly intoxicated, she was ‘gang-raped’ at a Halloween party held at Azaria’s residence.[1] Ms. Doe, who was 17 years old at the time, claims that the 21 year old Araiza, after providing her with additional alcohol and ‘other intoxicating substances’, took advantage of both her age and state of inebriation by leading to a side yard of the house where he allegedly raped her orally and vaginally.[2] Ms. Doe then claims that Araiza took her to one of the bedrooms inside the house where a group of men, including Ewaliko and Leonard, ‘took turns having sex with her’ while she went in and out of consciousness.[3]
In the time since the October incident, San Diego State University has received significant criticism since it waited over seven months to investigate the rape allegations involving a number of its students. This included failing to launch a Title IX inquiry into the alleged sexual assault to determine whether or not student code of conduct violations occurred, which, if found, could lead to either the suspension or expulsion of the alleged perpetrators.[4] Over that same time period, the University also neglected to inform members of its campus community of the alleged attack, possibly placing addition women at risk.
San Diego State’s athletic director, John David Wicker, claims that the decision to wait on any type of inquiry, either criminal or Title IX, was due to the University complying with the San Diego Police Department’s request to suspend such until they completed their criminal investigation.[5] However, according to Title IX experts, although in sometimes it is appropriate for a college or university to comply with a police department’s request to suspend an investigation of this sort, any suspension should only be temporary because the school itself has a legal obligation to ensure the safety and civil rights of all students and employees involved in the incident. As stated by one expert, “Though a campus can temporarily delay an investigation in compliance with a law enforcement request, it’s at the university’s discretion whether to do so and to determine for how long.”[6]
In addition, the decision to delay both the criminal and Title IX investigation has been criticized by rape survivor and public speaker Brenda Tracy. Ms. Tracy, who was hired to speak to the University’s male athletes, commented that the more she learned about the details surrounding the assault, the more it became obvious that the University failed to do the right thing. Ms. Tracy stated that “Institutions should not defer to police investigations. Title IX and criminal cases can run concurrently . . . Anonymous tips, one of which included a name, should have been followed up on immediately.”[7]
But San Diego State University’s Title IX woes don’t end with failing to investigate the alleged gang rape involving members of its football team. On February 7, 2022, the University was also sued by 17 current and former female student-athletes who claim that the University is in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 by depriving women of equal federal financial aid. The litigants in this class action lawsuit assert that from 2019 to 2021, SDSU’s female student-athletes received $1.2 million less in athletic financial aid, even though females made up more than 57 percent of all athletes at SDSU at that time.[8]
Arthur Bryant, the attorney representing the class of athletes, claims that San Diego has not been giving its female athletes a fair amount of financial aid for a long time, stating “The school has been and is cheating its women athletes out of equal athletic financial aid in violation of Title IX to the tune of over half a million dollars a year. That has to stop… it [the university] needs to pay the women back the value of the financial aid it should’ve given them. That’s what this financial aid case is about.”[9] In response, San Diego State commented that it grants a large number of scholarships to both men’s and women’s athletes. This may be true; however, Title IX requires colleges and universities to award an equal amount of athletic financial aid to male and female athletes in proportion to their enrollment and participation rates.
With this lack of the basic understanding of Title IX, together with its failure to properly investigate the alleged rape involving its football team, it may be time for the administrators at San Diego State to go back to the classroom so that they can learn more about a federal law that has been on the books for over 50 years.
[1] Plaintiff’s Complaint for Damages, page 2, paragraph 8. (Jane Doe also filed claims against Roes 1 through 20 who represent other individuals who are allegedly liable in this matter but whose true names and identities are unknown at this time.)
[2] Plaintiff’s Complaint for Damages, page 2, paragraphs 9 and 10.
[3] Plaintiff’s Complaint for Damages, page 2, paragraph 11.
[4] https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-06-03/sdsu-san-diego-state-football-players-claim-rape-girl
[5] https://nypost.com/2022/08/25/bills-matt-araiza-san-diego-state-players-accused-of-gang-rape/
[6] https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-06-03/sdsu-san-diego-state-football-players-claim-rape-girl
[7] Id.
[8] https://fox5sandiego.com/news/local-news/17-student-athletes-file-title-ix-lawsuit-against-sdsu/
[9] https://thedailyaztec.com/109789/sports/female-athletes-file-title-ix-lawsuit-against-sdsu/
