Allegation 101

A sedan emerges from the tiny parking lot off Valencia between 18th and 19th streets and turns into traffic. A 36-year-old man hangs his torso out the front passenger's window, sees a male student he knows, and makes the universal sign of the blowjob — tongue pressed so far into his cheek to create a bulge, fist pretending to hold something creating the bulge. The jokester laughs and tucks his head back into the window. The car speeds off.

So go early winter afternoon hi-jinks at the campus of New College of California, located in two former mortuaries and one ex-home for unwed mothers in the heart of the Mission District. This is a place where the ordinary rigidities of college existence — such as strict curricula, grading policies, or even the definition of what a classroom is — have dissolved to make way for what the school officially calls "education for social change, a progressive, activist college in San Francisco."

This winter, however, New College's penchant for shunning the strictures that other institutions live by may have undermined the school's motto of "preparing students for a more just, sacred and sustainable world."

The man in the passenger's seat is New College acting registrar Adam Laxton, who several months ago was accused of raping a young student he oversaw in a work-study program.

When I called Laxton last week and asked about the student's allegation that he raped her, he said: "It's ridiculous. And it did not happen. And that's the only comment that I have."

Indeed, I don't have information that would allow me to make a judgment about the veracity or falsehood of the allegation.

The San Francisco Police Department does not have a report on file lodged by the alleged victim. The young woman, who left high school in 2004, did not wish to discuss the matter when I spoke with her. Much of the information I have about the situation comes from on- and off-the-record interviews with administration, faculty, and student sources, and from New College President Martin Hamilton, who acknowledged the allegation when I interviewed him in his office.

However, during the past two weeks I've looked into the way the university handled the rape accusation, I've found the school's freewheeling approach to college-management seems to have extended to an inappropriate realm. Rather than immediately advising the student of her right to go to the police, or swiftly opening a formal school investigation into the matter, or helping her contact independent advocates or other services, and possibly putting the administration member on leave during such an investigation, the school until recently seems to have done little to get to the bottom of things.

This sort of laissez-faire attitude has no place in attempting to protect a student who believes she's been sexually attacked.

As is customary in stories involving alleged sexual abuse of young people, the accuser's name is not being printed.

---

During the ensuing days and months following the allegation, the college administration took steps to deal with the matter in unconventional ways. The student complained about the alleged incident several months ago. But the school seems not to have seriously dealt with the situation until recently. At about the same time word began circulating at the school that I would be doing a story about how New College had responded, or not responded, to the rape allegation, the school began holding meetings and interviewing people regarding the alleged incident, an administration insider said.

Hamilton says the school's tardy response to the allegation was not spurred by my inquiry. Though the New College president acknowledges the student approached a school employee several months ago with allegations that Laxton date-raped her, he says that it's only been during the past month that the allegations have become "more serious," without specifying what that meant. That's when a "deeper" investigation began, Hamilton said.

However, for Janelle White, executive director of San Francisco Women Against Rape, it's hard to fathom a date-rape allegation that wouldn't be serious enough to warrant immediate aggressive response.

"In any institution, there's an expectation that they're going to address abuses of power. This student was bringing to the school's attention a possible severe abuse of power," said White. "The onus is on the university. Ethically, it is on the university. And this is something that, unfortunately, the university also has to hear: It's a liability for them. It's a potential liability that they did not respond to this when it happened."

---

In an hour-long interview in his Valencia Street office, Hamilton offered a combination of assurances that the school was thoroughly investigating and addressing the matter, and what seemed like reasons for why it was difficult to do just that. He said now that they've begun addressing the situation in earnest, the school is proceeding with a proper investigation that has been guided by university counsel. He said he cares very much about the safety of students who might have reason to fear being harassed, or raped by members of his administration.

During our interview Hamilton challenged the idea that a university's questionable handling of a rape allegation was appropriate subject matter for an SF Weekly story. And he offered what seemed to be reasons that might have compromised his handling of the incident.