Students, faculty criticize UL's handling of LGBTQ+ student's suicide. Here's why
The AdvocateApr 17, 2024
Apr. 15—Students and faculty members gathered on the
In the week since Brown's death, his friends, fellow students and some faculty members have criticized the university's handling of the situation, suggesting opportunities to save his life were missed and that the university's actions after his death failed to protect the well-being of others.
The coalition to call for change at the university is led by current and former students, many of whom, like Brown, are members of the LGBTQ+ community.
Brown was found near the
On
"I don't know the exact details of what happened after the welfare check, because even his closest friends can't really pin (that) down," said Wren, a fellow UL student and friend of Brown, who asked to use only their first name to protect their family's privacy. "But I've heard reports that he wasn't taken to a hospital."
As such, law enforcement's hands were tied, according to Frederick.
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Wren and others said they would have wished for a more consequential response. "Everyone wants to think that when you call the police, they're gonna do something," they said.
The university said it could not release information on any formal complaints filed against the three people Brown accused of rape in his final Instagram post, citing privacy concerns.
"The university is investigating the allegation, but does not comment on personnel matters," spokesperson
The university announced Monday in a social media post that it would be investigating the suicide, but it was unclear what the focus of the investigation would be.
Wren, who identifies as nonbinary and uses they/them pronouns, said they weren't sure whether Brown ever filed an official report before his Instagram post, but said they wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't.
"I can say that the university does not handle sexual assault allegations well," Wren said. "I know several people that were sexually assaulted on campus by a student or by someone who was employed by the university. And they tried to report it and the university did nothing."
UL has previously come under fire for its handling of sexual assault cases, most prominently in a case that is still making its way through federal courts.
In that case, the plaintiff is a former UL student and one of six women to accuse fellow student
The lawsuit contends the three universities knew about sexual assault reports against Silva but failed to take appropriate action, allowing him to shuffle between campuses and victimize several female students with few consequences.
In Brown's case, his transgender identity may have compounded the issue, said Dr.
"I am concerned about the entire student body being with these people, this person," Moore said of the accused. Further, Moore wondered whether the university's relative silence on Brown's death was related to his gender identity and the allegations made against faculty. "Either they're not speaking because of the sexual assault claims or because Basil is trans," Moore said.
When Brown died, several students said the university failed to communicate properly by not sending out a notification to avoid the area, failing to properly inform professors ahead of Monday classes and eventually sending out an email many of them found to be inappropriately vague.
Another student, sophomore
"I didn't need to see that," Meaux said. "No one who was just innocently walking from the cafeteria should have seen that."
Maron said UL follows guidelines that call for an alert if a serious crime, a natural disaster or a man-made emergency occurs that poses an immediate threat to the health and safety of the campus community.
In this case, Maron said, there was "no immediate threat to health or safety."
The area was blocked off with yellow police caution tape within minutes of the incident, he said. A secondary outer perimeter was also blocked off with yellow police caution tape during the investigation to expand the area.
When she realized it was Brown who had died, Romero said she broke down in tears and left the reception desk to collect herself. She was provided with a counselor that same night, which she said was helpful, but wished she had received more guidance on how to advise students at the dorm of the gruesome scene outside.
"I wasn't really given much information from higher-ups how to handle the situation," Romero said. "I wasn't really given anything at all."
When the university sent out an email regarding Brown's death later that day, some students and faculty have said they found the tone and content to be excessively vague. Some were publicly critical that the email did not include any mention of suicide and hinted at other unspecified recent losses within the campus community.
Any mention of suicide was withheld out of respect for the family, Maron said, although he could not confirm whether the university had received explicit directives from Brown's family to withhold the information at the time.
When a similar incident occurred at
Pacing in front of the cypress trees rising out of the campus swamp Monday afternoon, students called for more transparency from the university, better counseling resources, changes to the emergency notification system and changes to the way welfare checks are conducted.
"We don't expect the world to stop,"
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