Liberty University allegedly threatened to punish students under moral code for reporting sexual abuse allegations
Liberty University allegedly threatened to punish students for reporting instances of rape and sexual abuse while citing its student code of conduct, which prohibits activities like underage drinking and premarital sex.
According to a report published by ProPublica on Monday, based on interviews with more than 50 former students and staffers as well as a review of more than a dozen case records, the Virginia-based school used its moral code, known as “The Liberty Way,” like a shield against students with allegations of misconduct.
A dozen anonymous former students said in a lawsuit filed in July that “The Liberty Way” made it “difficult or impossible” to report instances of sexual violence and further accused officials at the evangelical school of failing to provide them with options about contacting police.
One former student, who did not wish to be named, told the outlet that they were penalized for reporting an assault with a $500 fine for underage drinking and required counseling. Others said they were discouraged from reporting incidents of rape altogether, while at least three students, including Elizabeth Axley, recalled being made to sign a so-called “Victim Notice” acknowledging possible violations of the ethics code after they sought to file complaints about sexual assaults.
Axley was a first-year student at Liberty when she first reported she was raped in 2017. She went to a Halloween party that fall where she consumed at least eight shots of liquor, she told ProPublica. Axley did not remember much else outside of waking up with a fellow student on top of her and his hand pressed over her mouth.
She said she called the campus police department upon returning to her dorm, and an officer drove her to the hospital, where a nurse documented 15 bruises, and other injuries on her arm, face and torso, she said. Axley also had photos of the injuries, which were ultimately left out of her report.
“They were making it seem like I had done something wrong,” she said, adding her advisers initially tried to convince her to pray rather than file a report. “I didn’t want to get fined or punished, but I wasn’t going to let this keep me from reporting my assault.”
The student has since denied Axley’s allegations.
In the fall of 2013, Diane Stargel sought the help of the university’s mental health counselors, who forced her to sign a similar document when she tried to report she was raped by another student at an off-campus party. She opted against coming forward at the time out of fear for losing her scholarship.
“I feel like Liberty bullied me into silence after what happened to me,” Stargel told ProPublica. “I’ve always regretted that I never got my day in court. But at least now I can stand up and say, ‘Yeah, that happened to me.’”
Other women said they faced punishment for reporting the incidents if the school learned they broke policies against drinking, premarital sex, or “being in any state of undress with a member of the opposite sex.”
Scott Lamb, who was fired earlier this month from his post as the university’s senior vice president of communications, has also come forward to corroborate the claims.
“Concerns about sexual assault would go up the chain and then die,” the former communications aide told ProPublica.
Lamb is now suing the university, arguing that he was fired for revealing the school’s actions, or lack thereof, when it came to sexual assault.
Last year, Liberty’s long-standing president, Jerry Falwell Jr., stepped down following reports that his wife was having an affair with a pool boy. He was Liberty’s president from 2007 through 2020 and replaced by Jerry Prevo.
