by Erin Franklin and Russell Vannozzi | Oct 6, 2017 | News Slider
Two cases of on-campus rape were reported in the annual security report for 2016 that was emailed to the student body this week. Lipscomb spokeswoman Kim Chaudoin said that all involved parties were college-age students (i.e. faculty and staff were not involved), and the perpetrators are no longer enrolled at Lipscomb and both incidents occurred in Nashville — not in any of the study abroad locations. “The police were not called in for either of the [rape] cases,” Chaudoin said. “For whatever reason, they may or may not choose to call the police. It’s possible that in a date-rape situation, the victim may not want to get their date in trouble. In both [rape] cases, the university worked swiftly to investigate and take disciplinary action.” The crime report comes out every year because of the Clery Act, which was created to dictate to colleges and universities how to respond to crisis situations, and has expanded to include Title IX. Title IX protects Lipscomb and the students involved from disclosing any fine details about the incidents to the public. Kathy Hargis and Lipscomb’s Title IX team investigate all reported incidents before determining what steps to take next. Chaudoin emphasized that the Clery Act definition of rape encompasses more than the traditional definition of rape. “This year [the Clery Act] changed the way some crimes are reported,” Chaudoin said. “The definition [of rape] has broadened a bit, so some instances may not fit the traditional definition of rape.” In the emailed report, the definition of rape is listed as: “The penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body...
