Morehouse Is Criticized — Again — for Its Handling of Sexual Misconduct

Morehouse College is again facing online criticism from students who have accused the institution of improperly handling sexual-misconduct allegations.

Two students at the all-male, historically black college in Atlanta posted on Twitter last Tuesday that they had been sexually harassed by the same staff member at Morehouse. In separate videos, they spoke of their experiences with DeMarcus Crews, the assistant director of student services, according to Morehouse’s website, and said that Crews had asked them probing questions or made inappropriate comments about their sexuality.

This is the latest in a string of instances in recent years in which students have taken to social media to express frustration at how Morehouse has handled sexual-misconduct accusations.

The first student to post a video, a rising junior named Michael Key, said the college had ignored his complaints, which he had filed with Morehouse’s Title IX office.

Key said that during his second semester as a freshman, Crews had made advances toward him and had attempted to force him to come out about his sexuality. In the video, Key said he had filed a Title IX complaint but felt ignored by the college when the Title IX coordinator continued to cancel meetings and administrators wouldn’t return his emails.

The second student who posted a video, a freshman who said his first name was Bryson, said Crews had spread rumors to other students that Bryson had come out to him, which he said was false.

At least one other person, in a reply to the video, said he had faced a similar experience of being sexually harassed by a staff member at the college.

Last week Morehouse’s president, David A. Thomas, released a statement thanking the students for sharing their concerns and saying that the institution would “vigorously investigate any claims of sexual misconduct” through its Title IX office. He said a formal investigation had been opened into the specific accusations made by the students on Twitter.

The statement also said that Crews had been immediately put on unpaid administrative leave, pending the investigation into his conduct.

“My support goes out to anyone who feels they have been mistreated in any way at Morehouse College,” Thomas wrote in the statement.

Crews could not be reached under listed phone numbers or through Facebook Messenger.

Morehouse’s Recent History With Sexual Misconduct

This is not the first time Morehouse has faced broad scrutiny for how it has handled sexual-misconduct allegations.

The most recent allegations against Morehouse occurred in 2018, when a student accused the college in a lawsuit that it had protected a faculty member who had groped him while on a study-abroad trip, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

In November 2017, following unrest among students about sexual violence on the campus, Morehouse’s Martin Luther King Jr. International Chapel was spray-painted with the message, “Practice what you preach Morehouse + end rape culture.” Signs accusing and naming students as rapists were posted on Morehouse’s campus and the grounds of Spelman College, the nearby, all-female HBCU.

That prompted an online campaign, centered on the hashtag #WeKnowWhatYouDid, in which students shared their personal experiences of sexual violence and support for victims. A Twitter account also posted names of alleged abusers at Morehouse.

In May 2016 an anonymous Spelman student posted a slew of tweets alleging she had been raped by four Morehouse students. Hundreds of tweets followed the revelation, under the hashtags #RapedAtSpelman and #RapedByMorehouse, further sharing other experiences of abuse at the institutions.

In 2015, after Joseph R. Biden Jr., then the vice president, visited Morehouse’s campus to give a speech about campus sexual assault, a Morehouse student drew up a satirical “hoe contract” that was posted on Twitter, mocking consent in sexual relationships. The tweet drew online criticism and prompted student activists to issue a list of demands for the three colleges in the Atlanta University Center Consortium to address “this culture of violence.”

Morehouse and Spelman were also placed under investigation in 2015 by the U.S. Department of Education for potentially violating Title IX by failing to protect a student related to a sexual-assault complaint.

Tensions also rose on the campus in 2013, when three Morehouse athletes were arrested for allegedly raping a Spelman student, although the charges were later dropped.

Grace Elletson is an editorial intern at The Chronicle. Follow her on Twitter @graceelletson, or email her at grace.elletson@chronicle.com.