ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, February 29, 1996 TAG: 9602290072
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JAN VERTEFEUILLE STAFF WRITER
Baffour was suspended for two semesters by a student judicial panel under the school's sexual misconduct policy after a Jan. 20 incident at a female student's apartment.
Another student unhappy with the outcome of a campus hearing over sexual misconduct charges has filed suit in federal court - this time, a male student who was suspended after being found guilty.
Richard Baffour, a Radford University graduate student, was ordered to leave campus by 5 p.m. Wednesday. He asked a judge at 3 p.m. to prevent the school from kicking him off campus, but the judge declined to issue a temporary restraining order.
A hearing on the matter will be held early next week.
Baffour was suspended for two semesters by a student judicial panel under the school's sexual misconduct policy after a Jan. 20 incident at a female student's apartment. Baffour filed suit against the dean of students, the vice president for student affairs and the president of Radford University.
Baffour's attorney, Melvin Hill, told U.S. District Judge Samuel Wilson in a brief meeting Wednesday that Baffour's suspension was not based on substantial evidence and that there was no evidence of sexual misconduct.
The judicial panel's findings say only that Baffour made unwanted physical contact with the other student, but made no explicit findings of sexual contact, Hill said.
"Can't we infer from that that there was sexual contact?" Wilson asked. "Do they have to be more graphic than that?"
Wilson told Hill that his review of the matter is limited to deciding whether Radford acted within the law and whether Baffour received due process, not to act as an appeals court for Radford's internal decisions.
An assistant attorney general representing Radford participated in Wednesday's meeting with Wilson via conference call. She said the university felt strongly that Baffour should be suspended immediately.
"We have a victim who is outraged this individual is on campus even at this time," the assistant attorney general said. "She's concerned for her safety. There would be significant harm to the university community if this did not go forward at this time."
Hill said afterward that Baffour denies having any physical or sexual contact with the other student without her consent.
As in the Virginia Tech case also pending in Roanoke federal court, campus judicial hearings in sexual assault cases are being challenged. Hill said he believes campus hearings are inadequate for both the accuser and the accused.
"Allegations that also involve violations of criminal law ought to be handled by the courts," he said.
Hill said he plans to request a transcript of Baffour's hearing.
Baffour, who is set to graduate in May with a master of business administration degree, appealed the panel's findings to Dean Bonnie Hurlburt and Vice President Paul Harris, both of whom upheld the hearing panel's ruling. President Douglas Covington denied Baffour an appeal hearing. All three are named as defendants.
Covington declined comment on the specifics of the case, saying the judge still could remand it to him for a decision.
"I would simply say at this point that we do have a very effective student judicial system in place and we review cases when they arise with a great deal of care," he said.
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