Michigan school accused of failing to respond to assaults

DETROIT (AP) — Eastern Michigan University “turned a blind eye” to the sexual assault of students by other students, according to a lawsuit filed Wednesday by 11 women who said they were victims.

The lawsuit in federal court targets the university, campus police and two fraternities. It states that the assaults were committed by four men between 2015 and 2020; one, Dustyn Durbin, is facing multiple criminal charges in Ypsilanti.

The lawsuit alleges that campus police deliberately failed to enter reports from victims into a computer system. The women allege that the university failed to properly train staff to investigate assaults and failed to follow federal law, which bars discrimination based on sex.

EMU in Ypsilanti is the latest school in Michigan accused of misconduct. Hundreds of women and girls said they were molested by Michigan State University sports doctor Larry Nassar, who is in prison. The University of Michigan has acknowledged that another doctor, the late Robert Anderson, assaulted male athletes.

“Sexual assault, both reported and unreported, was so prevalent at EMU in large part because EMU's officials turned a blind eye or were deliberately indifferent,” the lawsuit alleges.

It describes an event at Alpha Sigma Phi called “mystic circle,” in which one of the women sat in a dark room and told fraternity members about being sexually assaulted by Durbin. She testified against him in court last fall. His criminal case is pending.

President James Smith posted a letter to the community on the school's website Tuesday, saying a Philadelphia law firm hired last fall still is reviewing the school's policies, procedures and actions. He said the work will be made public.

“Our initial review of Title IX and Department of Public Safety records...