Update 7/23/19: The student who posted the now viral social media video below, now identified as Michael Key, has announced plans for a lawsuit against the school and Crews. Key, his family, and his attorneys are hoping this lawsuit and the complaints brought forward by various students bring changes on how Title IX complaints are handled by the school.
“He didn’t not come from Chicago, Illinois to Atlanta to be stalked, to be harassed or to be assaulted at the hands of a school official in whom he should have had trust in,”stated Tiffany Simmons, one of Key’s attorneys. “We also plan to pursue criminal as well as civil charges against DeMarcus Crews.”
Morehouse College employee DeMarcus K. Crews has been accused of sexual assault and misconduct by multiple students on social media.
Simmons stated they are planning
Morehouse released the following statement on Monday:
Morehouse College is committed to providing a safe environment free from sexual misconduct and discrimination. We will investigate and respond swiftly to any allegation of sexual misconduct.
In the recent matter involving a student who made allegations against an employee on Twitter, the College is using a neutral third party for the investigation.
The allegation is still under investigation. The employee alleged to be involved in the case has been placed on administrative leave, without pay, pending the outcome of the investigation.
The College encourages anyone who feels that they are a victim of sexual misconduct at Morehouse to come forward and call the Ethics & Compliance Hotline at 888-299-9540.
Original Story 7/18/19:
What We Know:
- Crews graduated from Morehouse College in 2015 with a B.S. in Chemistry, participating in various organizations including the Student Government Association and Morehouse Men Ending Violence Against Women Task Force. He worked in a variety of positions on campus both as a student and post-matriculation, from Resident Advisor in 2011 to current position of Assistant Director of Student Services.
- A student took to social media stating in 2018 Crews was inappropriately making advances to him verbally and physically. The student says in the video (warning: graphic language included) that he reported the conduct to the Title IX office but was ignored by the now terminated administrator. He then reported the abuse to his parents who drove from their hometown of Chicago and helped him contact a lawyer to work with the school.
- After speaking with the replacement Title IX director, he states he was informed the provost would be communicated with in an effort to acquire academic accommodations for the semesters in which the incidents occurred…that replacement director was subsequently terminated and the student is claiming the school is still ignoring his efforts to have this situation rectified.
- After the video was published it received an overwhelming amount of support but also received responses of fellow students who have either also been victimized by Crews or make accusations against other staff, faculty, and students, stating this has been a problem on campus before and nothing has been done in previous situations either.
- Another student posted a response video stating that Dean Crews was “very nice and helpful” during the pre-freshmen year Summer program PSEP he attended, but once he started his freshmen year is when he says he “this is where things started to make me feel a little more uncomfortable.”
- “He was always making references to my sexuality.” stated the young man. He accuses Crews of lying on him to a friend of his, telling the friend about a coming out conversation and a desire to sleep with another student, a false story by the account in the video. Learning of the lies being spread and dealing with the misconduct, the student says he became depressed and sank to a place he hadn’t experienced before.
- Unfortunately these students aren’t the only stories being told as other tweets came in stating they had experienced similar misconduct or abuse. A formal investigation has been opened and the employee is now on unpaid administrative leave. A statement from the Morehouse College President was released to the Student Government Association and has since been made public.
- Morehouse College is an Atlanta-based private HBCU (Historically Black College and University). They were in the news earlier this year when their commencement speaker agreed to pay off all of the class of 2019 graduating students’ loans. Though the school is all-male traditionally, it is a part of the historic Atlanta University Consortium (AUC) which features cross-registration of classes and organizations for multiple schools including Spelman College and Clark Atlanta University.
Hopefully all schools take note of this situation and take all Title IX reports seriously and investigate them thoroughly. We will keep you posted as more information becomes available.
.@Morehouse Official statement from President Thomas — If you have any questions please reach out to the Office of Student Services. pic.twitter.com/hxSANe6kbj
— Morehouse SGA (@MorehouseSGA) July 17, 2019
