Brown U. Ordered to Turn Over Donor Records in Rape Case

A federal judge has ordered Brown University to turn over fund-raising and donation documents sought by lawyers in a case involving a former student who says he was falsely accused of rape and pressured to leave the university, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The former student, William McCormick III, was suspended in 2006 following “sexual misconduct” charges and later agreed to leave Brown permanently, but he says in a lawsuit that he did so under duress.

In 2009 he sued Brown, the student who accused him, and her father, a wealthy Brown alumnus and donor, arguing that his accuser’s father had used his sway at the university to influence how administrators handled the allegations.

Brown, which has said it acted properly in the discipline case has objected to the order to release the fund-raising and donation documents involving the father, saying that the father should produce the records, according to the Associated Press.

Peter Lake, director of the Center for Excellence in Higher Education Law and Policy at Stetson University College of Law, told The Chronicle he was unaware of any previous cases in which a private university has been ordered to turn over fund-raising documents.