University of Southern California

Multiple · Sigma Nu (USC chapter)

USC received multiple reports in fall 2021 that drugs were put into drinks at parties at the Sigma Nu house, including at least one reported sexual assault; the campus safety log listed six drugging reports at the house between Sept. 27 and Oct. 20, 2021. LAPD opened an investigation into alleged drug-facilitated sexual assaults.

Status: Under LAPD investigation as of Oct. 2021; police named a suspect who had not been charged or arrested per reporting at the time; chapter placed on interim suspension by university (2021).

Response: USC placed the chapter on interim suspension, reported to police and the national fraternity, and later admitted a 'troubling delay' in alerting campus; USC's IFC halted all fraternity social activities indefinitely; Sigma Nu national said it would work with USC.

Multiple · Unnamed fraternity (other USC houses)

Following the Sigma Nu alert, USC reported additional reports of sexual assault and of drugs placed into drinks without consent at other fraternity houses during fall 2021; the other houses were not named.

Status: Reports under investigation (2021); no charges reported in the cited sources.

Response: USC Interfraternity Council indefinitely halted all fraternity social activities; USC Department of Public Safety said it would enforce the halt and increased security on 28th Street.

Sexual assault · Sigma Alpha Mu (Mu Theta chapter)

A former USC student alleges in a civil lawsuit that she was sexually assaulted while intoxicated at a 2020 Sigma Alpha Mu party and that chapter members pressured her not to press charges. USC's Title IX investigation found the accused member violated university policy.

Status: Alleged in a civil lawsuit filed 2021 in Los Angeles County Superior Court (seeking at least $5 million); pending at early stage as of Aug. 2023. USC Title IX finding against the accused and his dismissal from USC in July 2020.

Response: USC Title IX found a policy violation and dismissed the accused student (2020).

College staff misconduct · Accused: Student health center physician

Years of abuse: late 1990s-2018

About 80 former students, mostly gay and bisexual men, sued USC alleging a male physician at the student health center sexually abused them during exams, and that USC received complaints but failed to adequately address them. USC settled the lawsuits in 2022 for an undisclosed sum.

Status: Sued 2019; settled 2022 (undisclosed); doctor lost medical license 2020

Response: University allegedly received complaints but failed to act

College staff misconduct · Accused: Campus gynecologist, student health center

Years of abuse: c. 1989-2016

The longtime full-time gynecologist at the USC student health center was accused by thousands of female students and patients of sexual abuse and lewd conduct during exams over nearly three decades. USC paid a $215 million class settlement (2018) and an $852 million global settlement (2021), exceeding $1 billion total.

Status: Suspended 2016, resigned 2017; criminally charged 2019 (sexual penetration of unconscious person, sexual battery by fraud); died 2023 before trial; $215M settlement 2018 and $852M settlement 2021

Response: Complaints dating to the 1990s not acted on; allowed to resign quietly with a payout in 2017