Vera
http://falcon.nji.com/~vera
equalityforall@hotmail.com
The Brown University News Bureau
Distributed May 20, 1997
Contact: Mark Nickel
OCR complaint withdrawn
Parties in disciplinary case resolve disputes; OCR complaint
is withdrawn
A complaint before the Office of Civil Rights regarding a disciplinary
case at Brown has been withdrawn. The parties have resolved their
disputes privately and have asked OCR to take no further action in its
investigation.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A complaint that had been brought before the
Office of Civil Rights regarding a disciplinary case at Brown
University has been withdrawn, according to Jeffrey A. Newman, the
complainant's attorney. The complaint had charged that a decision
ast fall by the University Disciplinary Council not to hear a case of
alleged sexual misconduct had violated the Title IX rights of a female
student.
In a statement delivered to the Office of Civil Rights on Friday, May 9,
1997, the complainant said:
A claim filed by me ... on behalf of my daughter ... is currently
pending before the Office of Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of
Education against Brown University. I am hereby, with the concurrence of
my daughter, withdrawing the complaint against Brown University and
requesting that OCR refrain from taking any further action on this
matter. All of the parties have decided to resolve this matter
privately.
The complainant has also withdrawn statements made regarding Professor
Martha Joukowsky's involvement in the case, as well as the role of
Artemis A. W. Joukowsky, chancellor of Brown University, who was vice
chancellor at the time of the complaint:
In addition to withdrawing the complaint against Brown University, we
are also withdrawing all statements made by us regarding the Joukowskys
(Martha and Artemis), which we believed to be true at the time. Those
statements were based on hearsay information and we do hereby withdraw
those statements and any inferences that may be made therefrom. We
acknowledge that we have no personal knowledge or information about the
statements concerning Martha Joukowsky
which were made in the course of the OCR review. We regret that such
statements, which were not based on independent evidence, may have been
inaccurate and/or created misimpressions. We further regret any negative
connotations such statements or questions may have raised regarding the
personal integrity of either of the Joukowskys or the professional work
of Professor Joukowsky. It was not our intention to do so.
The story was covered locally by the student newspaper The Brown Daily
Herald, by The Providence Phoenix and The Boston Phoenix and nationally
by the Chronicle of Higher Education, which disclosed the male student's
name based on information from anonymous "sources directly involved in
the case." John A. Tarantino, counsel to the male student, reported
earlier that all disputes between the two students had been resolved to
the mutual satisfaction of both parties. A statement released by
Tarantino on
Wednesday, May 7, 1997, said, in part:
The parties have been distressed by the sensational and inaccurate
portrayal of the relationship between these two students.
It is their hope that the announcement of this resolution will end the
exaggerated and inaccurate media accounts of what happened in their
relationship.
In an effort to avoid any speculation as to the parties' motives or
incentives to reach an amicable resolution of their disputes, the
parties want to make it clear that no financial settlement was sought or
offered by any of the parties. Rather, both of the parties simply want
to put this matter behind them, to focus on their studies and to realize
the potential that each has for a successful and fulfilling career.
"The University is pleased that the parties have been able to resolve
their disputes privately and that the complaint has been withdrawn,"
said Laura Freid, executive vice president for external affairs.
______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com