The Department of Justice is investigating how Utah State University responds to reports of sexual assault, the university confirmed Tuesday.
University officials said in a statement that the DOJ’s Educational Opportunities Section opened an inquiry into the university and its Title IX practices in January.
“USU is cooperating full with the review and welcomes the opportunity this will provide as we continue to improve our processes,” spokesman Eric Warren wrote. ”Because this is an ongoing inquiry, it would not be appropriate to discuss details of the review.”
DOJ officials said Tuesday that they could not confirm that there is an investigation, or give details about any specific cases being considered.
News of the federal review became public this week after the school’s student newspaper, the Utah Statesman, published a story about the investigation.
A review by the Department of Justice is unique, according to S. Daniel Carter, president of Safety Advisors for Educational Campuses, LLC.
There are more than 300 Title IX reviews by the U.S. Department of Education nationwide, Carter said, but very few Title IX Department of Justice investigations.
“This would be the only one under investigation that I am currently aware of,” Carter said. ”It is much more rare and far, far more serious.”
The scope of a DOJ review is usually much larger than that of the education department, according to Carter, and usually looks at ”more systemic issues across an entire community.”
Five other Utah universities are being evaluated by the Department of Education for potential Title IX violations: Westminster College, the University of Utah, Brigham Young University, Dixie State University and Utah Valley University.
While it isn’t clear what case or cases drew the DOJ’s interest in the Logan university, three USU students have been charged or convicted in high-profile sexual assaults alleged to have occurred between 2013 and 2015.
Former USU football player Torrey Green was charged with 11 felonies connected to seven alleged attacks between November 2013 and November 2015, when he was a student at USU.
Three women said they reported him to the school in 2015. Green has told The Salt Lake Tribune that school officials talked to him about one incident.
An internal investigation revealed that the school “fell short” in handling reports related to Green, but USU has refused to release anything additional about its inquiry.
Former student Jason Relopez was sentenced in 2016 to a year in jail for attempted rape and attempted forcible sex abuse. As part of his plea deal, he admitted raping one student in 2014 and student Victoria Hewlett in 2015.
Hewlett has sued USU, saying the school mishandled complaints about both Relopez and Ryan Wray, a former president of Pi Kappa Alpha charged in a separate assault.
Prosecutors said Wray inappropriately touched a woman at the fraternity in 2014, while he was assigned to keep watch over partygoers who couldn’t take care of themselves. He pleaded guilty to attempted forcible sex abuse and was sentenced to six months in jail.
USU has asked for Hewlett’s lawsuit to be dismissed, arguing that school officials did not violate her rights.