Corea, J., Moua, K., Quintero, A., Xiong-Moua, J.

Jane Does v. Liberty University

Jena Corea, Kathy Moua, Angelica Quintero, and Jennifer Xiong-Moua

Higher Education Administration and Leadership, California State University, Fresno

HEAL 225: Leadership and Supervision

Dr. Marie Harris

December 13, 2022

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Introduction

Providers of post-secondary education take on many different forms. For those who seek

to polish their education and contribute to knowledge, the most common method is to attend

institutions of higher learning such as colleges and universities. As students evolve into investors

of their own resources, institutions evolve into establishments of accredited quality education

and opportunities. Today, these budding student scholars come to campus bearing expectations of

their respective institutions. In return, these institutions have answered them by providing

services, programs, courses, and various opportunities. Institutions continue to polish themselves

to meet their students' demands and needs. It also goes without saying that students are the

colleges’ and universities' most influential, yet most fleeting stakeholders. Even with their short

time at these institutions, students continue to influence and hold institutions accountable for

their actions. With this historical and foundational knowledge of higher education, colleges and

universities such as Liberty University come under public scrutiny for their continued disregard

for student needs and expectations. The appalling number of cases filed against Liberty

University for disregarding the Clery Act and Title IX, as well as student safety, will be

discussed in this paper.

From 2000 until 2019, 12 Jane Doe cases were filed against Liberty University. Since

then, that number has risen to 21 cases, some with separate lawsuits. The amount of cases is

unprecedented now in 2022. As mentioned before, higher education today has evolved and has

promised to be transparent, trustworthy, and reliable. However, each Jane Doe case continues to

bring up a very clear message: student safety is not a priority at Liberty University. Students are

repeatedly punished instead of being cared for. Each of these cases contains a series of accounts

that detail sexual violence, harassment, denial of resources, misinformation, and narratives where
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professional staff has intentionally misled students. The Clery Act states that institutions must

report campus crime policy and statistics. Liberty University intentionally understated the

number of violations by using the “Liberty Way,” a student honor code, as punishment, instilling

fear of retaliation should student victims come forward. In addition to that, as most of the cases

are filed under the nature of sexual violence, the university is also in clear violation of Title IX.

This clause protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities

that receive federal financial assistance.

The lack of transparency in reporting and taking action has led to a spiral of events

perpetuating an unsafe and dangerous campus at Liberty University. This paper will provide

information providing the context of the cases, a review of different leadership styles that Liberty

University is exhibiting, and implications from the case analysis.

Liberty University

Liberty University was established in Lynchburg, Virginia, in 1976 and received its

accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and School Commission on Colleges in

1980 (Liberty University, n.d. -b). Boasted for its world-class, comprehensive liberal arts majors

(both undergraduate and graduate), this evangelical Christian university offers more than 700

programs (both in person and online) and had a student body of 100,000 students in 2020

(Liberty University, n.d. -a). Over 90% of its student population receives federal funding, with

the average semester tuition costing $30,000 (Liberty University, n.d. -a), a statistic that is

important to note when considering the Clery Act and Title IX.

The Liberty Way

Perhaps the most unique characteristic of this private, non-profit university is its student

honor code, the Liberty Way. The Liberty Way outlines the moral and ethical student behaviors
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that all students are expected to follow (Liberty University, n.d. -c). Many of the guidelines

follow standard policies expected in a student handbook, such as explanations and examples of

academic dishonesty, the consequences, and the appeal process. There is, however, another

section reviewed and titled as “Unprofessional, Unethical, and Dangerous Behaviors.” While

“unprofessional and unethical behaviors” were defined, “dangerous behaviors” were not (Liberty

University, n.d. -c). Among the undefined behaviors, there were many other unspecified rules

and regulations. The only thing clear about the Liberty Way was the mandated requirement for

students to report any and all violations. These violations will then be reviewed by the Student

Honor Code committee from the Office of Community Life. Any students found to be in

violation would face punitive consequences, such as meeting with the Dean or the requirement to

attend counseling (Liberty University, n.d. -c).

Literature Review

There are three leadership styles that we will be discussing throughout the rest of the

paper. We will discuss autocratic leadership (also known as authoritarian leadership), activism

as leadership, and socially responsible leadership. The three leadership styles will be discussed

regarding how different people responded to these accusations and reports of sexual violence

occurring on campus, as well as the approaches that we would recommend universities take to

better serve the students and the campus.

The first to be discussed is autocractic leadership. Autocratic leadership is “characterized

by individual control over all decisions… Autocratic leaders typically make choices based on

their ideas and judgments and rarely accept advice from followers” (Cherry, 2022). While all

dictators are autocratic leaders, it is important to note that not all autocratic leaders are dictators.

However, in this case, the autocratic approach harms the students and campus community
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because of the decisions that are made. Spaces with autocratic leaders typically have a lot of

structure and transparent rules to follow. While clear rules and structure can be considered a

benefit, the problem that comes with it is that in the autocratic approach, there is often resistance

to change or progress.

During our case analysis, we will discuss how students at Liberty University used

activism as leadership. Activism is defined as “… the doctrine or practice of vigorous action or

involvement as a means of achieving political or other goals, sometimes by demonstrations,

protests” (Dictionary, 2022). So when an individual or group participates in activism as

leadership, they often ignore their lack of positionality and engage with others to make a change.

Rhoads (2016) recognizes five main points that students using activism as leadership should

consider and act upon. First, “ … to recognize the serious risks student activists often assume as

they engage in direct action strategies to forge campus and broader social change.” (Rhoads,

2016). Second, even if a student activist's time is torn between activism and education, it is

evident that these students are gaining organizational and social skills. Third, a need to have clear

definitions. Fourth, social media is transforming activism and should be used. And lastly, center

social justice and diversity in the issues that activists are organizing for. These points highlight

precisely the kind of energy and purposeful actions that individuals using activism as leadership

have to put forward.

The last leadership theory that will be discussed in this paper is socially responsible

leadership. Socially responsible institutions should be acting for the greater good of society.

Additionally, it is the responsibility of higher education administration, staff, and faculty to have

the “…ethical obligation to identify power, privilege, and oppression on our campus” (Armino,

J., Torres, V., & Pope, R. L. 2012).

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Case Analysis

In the original lawsuit against Liberty University, 12 women filed as Jane Doe. However,

more Does have since filed separate lawsuits and cases over a 19-year span. Jane Does

experiences range from being staff on campus, to students and campus visitors.

Jane Doe 12

In 2000, 15-year-old Jane Doe 12 was visiting Liberty University for summer debate

camp. While she was on campus, she met Jessee Mathew Jr., who grabbed Doe 12 and carried

her into a bathroom. She escaped him during the sexual assault and contacted the police. An

officer, whom she claims to be the chief of the Liberty University Police Department, required

her and Matthew to ride in the same car to the police station. She was also accused of fabricating

her story and police pressured her to withdraw the claim. Other claims include police refusal for

Doe to go to the hospital. Instead, they continued to “badger her” until she agreed to allow

herself to be photographed nude by a female debate coach.

Matthew was later accused of rape by a Liberty Univerity Student and pleaded guilty to

two murders (Williamson & Harfmann, 2021).

Within Jane Doe 12’s case, we see multiple members of Liberty Univeristy’s employees

use autocratic leadership. From the immediate reaction of the officer denying her story to having

the student ride in the same police car with her alleged rapist adds more than one layer to the

lack of sensitivity and care. Along with that, the denial of bringing her to the hospital is a

complete lack of support that often shows up in autocratic leadership that resists change. The

missteps that were taken by the university failed to give Jane Doe 12 an advocate or the option to

have a rape kit done by a medical professional. Instead, the university had a staff member who

was not even trained in crisis training, take photos of the situation. In addition, Liberty
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Univeristy failed to respond differently to this case even when the victim was a minor and not an

official member of the Liberty community. Overall the university did not respond to the

allegations with any care or thought. They did only what they had been told to do and were

unable to think about proper responses regarding sexual violence.

Jane Doe 3

Jane Doe 3, who later revealed herself as Elizabeth Axley, was a first-year student at

Liberty in 2017. Three months into the fall semester, she went to an off-campus Halloween party

on a Saturday, where she consumed alcohol. She woke up with a fellow Liberty Univerity

student on top of her and his hand was covering her mouth; she was then held against her will

and raped. She reported the assault to the campus police department and an officer drove her to

the hospital, where the nurses documented bruises, welts, and lacerations on her body (Dreyfus,

2021).

On Sunday, Axley later returned to her dorm and she reported the rape to her resident

adviser (RA). The RA told Axley not to report the rape because she violated the Liberty Way,

telling Axley that since she drank alcohol, she would be punished. The RA instead offered to

pray with Axley, but Axley reported not wanting the prayers. She wanted Liberty University to

do something about the rape.

The following day, Axley went to the Title IX office and submitted evidence that

included text messages from peers and photos of the welts on her chest, lacerations on parts of

her arms, and a bruised lip (Dreyfus, 2021). Axley recalls Elysa Bucci, the official who took the

complaint, was uninterested in her case. Bucci instead started questioning Axley as to why she

went to the party and how much she was drinking.

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Axley later received email updates about her case that Liberty was holding an

investigation about the allegations. After a few months, Bucci informed Axley that Liberty

University had completed its investigation. However, when Axley looked through her case file,

the photos she had submitted were removed for being considered too explicit.

Axley then received an email from Liberty University saying that the case was moving

forward and she needed to sign a document acknowledging that she could be punished for having

violated the Liberty Way (Dreyfus, 2021). She had the possibility of facing disciplinary action.

Axley’s experiences with the university show both autocratic leadership and her right to

provide evidence. Liberty failed to separate their religious beliefs about premarital sex from

allegations of rape. The university should have separated their premeditated beliefs about people

who have sex out of wedlock to give an opportunity to hear Axley's accusations free of bias.

Additionally, Title IX requires that the university allow each complainant the opportunity

to “…present his or her case. This includes the right to adequate, reliable, and impartial

investigation of complaints, the right to have an equal opportunity to present witnesses and other

evidence …” (Department of Education, 2020). Since Liberty University removed photo

evidence in Axley’s report for being too explicit, it is clear that this section of Title IX was

violated. We see that Liberty University’s actions went against Title IX expectations and,

furthermore, were unethical and unlawful.

The Liberty Way - an honor code that works against victims

One of the primary complaints in the lawsuit was the allegation that the Liberty Way, the

honor code meant to guide students on how to “treat each other in our community is a direct

reflection of our love of God” actually creates double standards for the victims (Liberty

University, n.d. -c). The plaintiffs stated that the student’s honor code “makes it difficult to report
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sexual violence because it does not shield students making the report from punishment for

infractions, including being at a place where alcohol is served - or being alone with a member of

the opposite sex” (Jones & Silverman, 2021). This means that if a victim were to report an

incident of sexual assault, they would be implicating themselves as violating the Liberty Way by

simply by being alone with the opposite sex or being present at a party. The consequences led to

a fear of the penalties for violating the Liberty Way, which impeded the victims from reporting

the sexual assault to a person of authority and seeking help.

Similarly, the plaintiffs feel that the authorities and staff at the university do not take their

sexual assault claims seriously, even resorting to bullying the women into silence. One student

shared how she sought counseling assistance after being raped at an off-campus party. The

counselor made the student sign a “Victim Notice” and was told that if they moved forward with

the report, she might be found violating the Liberty Way. Fearful, the student did not move

forward with her assault allegations (Dreyfus, 2021). Another student shared how after she made

a report to the Title IX Coordinator, she was not given all the information, including the ability to

file a police report (Dreyfus, 2021). The Title IX Coordinator focused more on why the student

was at the party and minimized the assault allegations. Finally, there were reports of Liberty

University police officers discouraging victims from pursuing charges after reporting an assault

and with that the student was discouraged from moving forward with her litigation process. The

student reported that the campus lawyer informed her “no one would believe her” despite having

collected more than sufficient evidence (Dreyfus, 2021). These types of attitudes held by the

campus staff and authorities have led to a hostile, unsafe environment where women do not feel

like they have a safe avenue to report such crimes. As such, Liberty University has created an

environment where sexual violence will continue to perpetuate.

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Activism as Leadership

Since these lawsuits, students at Liberty University have taken to activism to make the

changes at the university they see as necessary. The lawsuit approach is one of the many methods

that students have taken toward advocating for their safety. Students have put together a “Justice

for Janes” slogan. This slogan and its movement on Liberty University’s campus encouraged

students and other campus community members to wear teal clothing and ribbons to support Jane

Does. They also practiced peaceful protesting and carried signs around campus. The student-led

group was organized for three main things. First, they wanted a third-party investigation of

Liberty University's Title IX offices. Second, they called for emergency call boxes linked to the

Lynchburg Police Department. Lastly, they want an amnesty policy to be in place for students

reporting Title IX offenses (Alachnowicz, 2021). These students also put together a rally for the

victims who have been silenced repeatedly at Liberty University. With the pressure from the

student activists and the rally, the students pushed the university board to conduct a Title IX

review (Shellnutt, 2021). When these students came together and were heard as one voice, they

proved that they could make ripples and inspire change to happen.

Results of the Case

Several things have occurred as a result of these cases. Liberty University continues to be

under investigation and they have had to pay for settlements. In addtion to that, the university

continues to face more lawsuits. Since Liberty University has federally funded students, they

must follow federal laws and regulations such as the Clery Act. Due to this case and others

reporting similar experiences, the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights is

investigating Liberty University for violating the Clery Act and along with that, a separate
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investigation to look into additional complaints regarding discrimination based on sexual

orientation.

This case also concluded with a settlement for the initial lawsuit filed by the twelve Jane

Does, though the amount remains unknown to the public. While it is not known how much the

settlement’s amount was, other amounts settled by the university have been made public. For

example, in a separate lawsuit Liberty University offered a settlement of $10,000. However, the

Jane Doe of that case declined the amount because she felt that when entering the settlement

meeting, the university weaponized the Jane Doe’s trauma against them and that the university

“Took zero accountability” (Lowndes, 2022).

In addition to the settlements that Liberty University has paid, they have implemented

safety initiatives to help protect students from harm. Reportedly they have invested 8.5 million

dollars into security upgrades such as security cameras, additional lighting, and blue light boxes.

Though we view these changes as positive, many of the issues surrounding this case were not

about the prevention of the sexual assualts. Rather, they were focused on how the university took

responsibility, or the lack thereof, the safety of the Jane Does. With that in mind, we would like

to see more changes made by the university regarding the Liberty Way, their Title IX policies,

their training considering Title IX and sexual assualt for staff, faculty, and administration, and

the execution of an amnesty policy.

Recommendations

Over the course of this case, there are clear missteps taken by Liberty University’s

leadership. In this section, we will go over what should be implemented at Liberty University

and other universities. We have determined that universities that face similar issues as Liberty

University has would act in a socially responsible leadership style.

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As a federally funded university, Liberty University and many other universities are held

to and expected to respond to Title IX allegations in a certain manner that follows regulations.

The very least that a university can do is follow the regulations. We suggest taking the extra

steps, especially as a religious-based university, to separate religion from things such as a

university's honor code and to reconsider prioritization of the statements written in the honor

code. For example, the punishment for rape is not less than that of drinking alcohol (Inside

Edition, 2021).

Through the lens of socially responsible leadership, we recommend that universities take

a step towards amending their amnesty policy and follow in the steps of other successful

universities that have handled their cases well. For example, San Diego State University (SDSU)

has a policy that states, “If someone needs help, make the call! Whether it’s an incident related to

alcohol, drugs, sexual violence or hazing, generally, you and the person in need won’t get in

trouble” (San Diego State University, 2022). While there are exceptions to this amnesty policy,

such as a student who is requesting the amnesty policy after being approached by police or staff,

for the most part, SDSU expresses prioritizing the student's safety over holding students liable

for breaking the student conduct. We believe that to better support students at Liberty University,

there needs to be a real separation of their amnesty policy and their Liberty Way. Universities

implementing clear protection under an amnesty act would influence students' ability to get

support and help when needed, especially at institutions such as Liberty University which have

strict student conduct policies. Additionally, students who are victims of domestic violence or

sexual violence would likely have a more comfortable and welcoming space to report their

experiences.

Conclusion
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Throughout each of the Jane Does’ stories and experiences, we are able to see who held

power at Liberty University and who made the decisions that directly impacted the students'

experiences in and outside of higher education. Liberty University has a responsibility to its

students as well as to the federal government to conduct Title IX investigations in a thorough and

legal manner. However, we can see that this is not how Liberty University has handled these

countless cases. They instead convinced women to say that they lied about their experiences,

exaggerated their stories, and simply shamed the women coming forward into not reporting.

These actions are highly unethical and harmful to the campus climate.

As student affairs practitioners, it is important that we support our students, employees,

and even campus visitors that have been or might become victims of sexual violence. The

responsibility should not fall on a survivor to become an activist through their own sexual

assault, but rather Liberty University should have taken the proper course of action to conduct an

investigation that could have led to justice for the survivors. The responsibility towards survivors

of sexual harassment and assault should be held by Title IX, survivor advocates, and backed by

the university as a whole; everyone who steps on campus should uphold these standards to

ensure campus safety for all.

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