The federal education department launched an investigation this week into how American University handled a report of a sexual assault by a student.
The U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights (OCR) is evaluating how the university dealt with a female student's report that a fellow student assaulted her off-campus.
Federal investigators will determine whether AU administrators violated Title IX, a law that sets policies on how schools deal with sexual violence and report it to U.S. officials.
"The issue under investigation is whether the university promptly and equitably responded to a report of sexual violence," a Department of Education (DOE) spokesman said by email about the probe opened June 21.
The 21-year-old woman who reported the alleged assault said she was happy to receive a letter last week confirming the federal office would look into her claim. She said she filed a complaint with OCR on March 8.
"Just to get it in the mail, and have something tangible that says, 'AU is under investigation,' was really cool," she said.
NBC Washington, which interviewed the woman by phone, typically does not name victims of alleged sexual assaults.
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The woman said the fellow student sexually assaulted her off-campus in February 2015. She told the campus newspaper, The Eagle that she reported the incident to university officials in April 2015.
The woman told the paper that AU held a student-conduct hearing in October 2015 that she and her alleged assailant both were required to attend. She says that this hearing should have taken place earlier.
Title IX requires that schools respond to reports of sexual violence promptly. A typical investigation takes about 60 days after a complaint is received, OCR says in guidance to universities. But the time lines of the probes are allowed to vary depending on "the complexity of the investigation and the severity and extent of the alleged conduct," a question-and-answer document from OCR says.
The woman said an AU administrator told her the hearing was postponed so it did not conflict with final exams. That administrator would not address her case specifically, but told The Eagle that final exams can create scheduling conflicts for hearings.
In addition to objecting to the timing of the hearing, the woman argues she was made to sign a confidentiality agreement in violation of Title IX.
The DOE spokesman said he could not confirm which allegations OCR would investigate, since the case is ongoing.
AU lawyer and Title IX program officer Heather Pratt said in a campus-wide email sent Monday that the school will cooperate with the investigation.
"We anticipate that OCR’s assessment of our work will provide an opportunity to further enhance our Title IX-related policies and related activities," she wrote.
Pratt did not provide a response immediately to the woman's specific claims.
The student who reported the assault said federal officials told her they soon will gather evidence in the case. She said she expects the investigation to be lengthy.
Of the 296 Title IX investigations OCR has opened since April 4, 2011, 83 percent are still pending, according to data collected by The Chronicle of Higher Education. Title IX investigations take an average of 1.3 years to complete, the Chronicle reported.
A separate investigation into AU's handling of a reported sexual assault began last year and has yet to be resolved, the DOE spokesman said.
Ellie Hartleb was one of two reporters who covered this case for The Eagle at American University. She is now an intern for NBC Washington.
