The University of Evansville (UE) is facing a federal lawsuit claiming the school did not respond properly to allegations against a theater professor of racial and sexual harassment. The story contains explicit descriptions of the allegations.
The lawsuit accuses UE theater professor Scott Lank of making numerous sexually suggestive and racist remarks to former student Alexis Seay, who is a black woman.
The document alleges Lank also repeatedly made sexually inappropriate comments in class. According to the document, Lank would ask students if they were sleeping with one another and told the class he enjoyed oral sex and pornography with Asian women in it.
The document also accuses Lank of writing a role of Seay in one of his plays that she was supposed to perform nude.
The document says the alleged harassment and the university’s response made Seay fear for her safety. It says she withdrew from the university in February of this year.
The lawsuit accuses the university of responding inadequately to allegations made against Lank. "A reasonable response would’ve been immediately investigating this, putting some sort of safeguards or alternative accommodations in place," said Lindsay Cordes, a lawyer representing Seay.
The university said it does not comment on pending litigation but reaffirmed its commitment to diversity. Lank did not respond to requests to comment.
Read the entire lawsuit below: