On March 15, Damyean Dotson and Dominic Artis filed lawsuits against the university for $10 million each. The lawsuit claims the investigation was biased and their futures with the NBA were jeopardized. Litigation surrounding the alleged sexual assault of a University of Oregon student by three former basketball players in March 2014 continued through 2015-16.
July 28: An 11-month lawsuit between the survivor of the alleged assault, Jane Doe, and the university was settled. Doe received $800,000 and free tuition. She dropped the civil suit against head coach Dana Altman on July 31.
Aug. 11: Doe’s former therapist, Jennifer Morlok, and former executive assistant to the director of the Counseling and Testing Center Karen Stokes filed a tort claim against the university. They accused the UO Testing and Counseling Center of violating First Amendment rights and performing unlawful employment practices.
Oct. 29: Brandon Austin, one of the former basketball players accused of the assault, filed a $7.5 million lawsuit against the university. The suit claimed that Austin was unjustly expelled in June 2014; his potential future playing for the NBA was tarnished; he received professional, personal and emotional hardship and suffered future income depletion.
Nov. 1: Morlok resigned from the counseling center. She said in an open letter to University President Michael Schill that she could “no longer manage the emotional strain and professional toll I have paid for speaking the truth.” Morlok said that after she reported that her director, Shelly Kerr, gave Doe’s confidential records to a UO attorney, she was removed as a staff therapist.
Jan. 25: The UO asked a federal judge to dismiss Austin’s lawsuit, saying Austin had no relation with the NBA at the time of his suspension and that he signed a special choice of resolution that surrendered his right to face his accuser and appeal rulings made by Sandy Weintraub, the university’s director of student conduct and community standards.
 
UO student charged with sexual assault in March
On March 30, UO student Sean Wood was arrested and charged with sexual assault by the UOPD. As of April 6, Wood was no longer enrolled as a student. Prior to his arrest, Wood was a member of the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity where he has been placed on interim suspension. Wood was released to his family home in San Diego and is only allowed to travel between California and Oregon before his court date.
He faces charges stemming from an incident that occurred on Feb. 6 of this year in addition to a sexual abuse charge from September 2013.
 
Fraternity and Sorority Life’s expansion is halted after external review
Vice President of Student Life Robin Holmes requested an external review of FSL on the UO campus. The results — released on April 4 — affirmed concerns of sexual assault within the FSL community, according to Holmes. The review found that FSL members take part in “high-risk behaviors,” perpetuate a “black-out culture,” sorority members acknowledged peer pressure to not report sexual assaults and that the community is not equipped to handle specific behaviors or incidents of assault.
Until more staff members are hired, the division of student life extended the halt on new fraternities or sororities colonizing at the university and the cap on membership numbers.
 
Darci Heroy hired as Title IX Coordinator
On Jan. 26, the university announced the hiring of Heroy as interim associate vice president and Title IX coordinator. Her job is to coordinate with the UO to prevent and respond to sexual assault in compliance with Title IX.
“Part of the function [of this job] is to hold the institution accountable to the laws the federal government has set in place,” Heroy said, “but also holding the institution accountable to what’s in the best interest of the students, faculty and staff here.”
Heroy began on Feb. 1 and reports directly to Schill. She was hired until the end of the academic year while the university continues to look for a permanent administrator. Heroy was offered the permanent position but declined.