Ex-UC Davis Student Sues University Over Sexual Abuse & Hazing

A former UC Davis student is suing the university for negligence related to sexually abusive hazing tactics on the part of a fraternity. He says reports of the abuse were ignored by the university when they occurred in 2008.

Ryan Clifford is suing UC Davis for negligence, intentional infliction of emotional distress and three other complaints related to tactics used by the fraternity, Alpha Epsilon Pi fraternity, according to the Huffington Post. The report continues:

Clifford, a former member of the Jewish fraternity, claimed that AEPi engaged in violence, sexual abuse and forced consumption of drugs and alcohol, which the university ignored, even after several reports. Clifford, who is not Jewish, alleged that he was "specifically targeted for the harshest form of hazing known as 'ratfucking' because of his non-Jewish religious affiliation."

The lawsuit says that pledges were required to attend a retreat to Lake Tahoe, where they were forced to drink “inordinate amounts of alcohol,” some of which was laced with drugs. He claims he was then forced to get naked while members touched his penis and made sexual comments, according to the Huffington Post.

UC Davis put the fraternity on “conditional registration,” after Clifford reported the abuse, but he says their behavior was not monitored, and the abuses continued. He claims he reported abuse several other times, but the university did not respond.

The Huffington Post reports that Clifford filed a state suit against the fraternity, at which point he claims the Office of the Dean advised him to withdraw from classes at depart from UC Davis. He was 6.5 credits away from graduating at the time.

UC Davis didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment from the Huffington Post. Read their report here. 

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