The University of Arkansas has expelled an Olympic athlete who was found responsible for sexually assaulting and harassing a female student.
Raymond Higgs, 24, a senior who competed in the long jump in the 2012 Summer Olympics, was notified this week that he is immediately kicked out of the Fayetteville, Arkansas, school. A university hearing in December found him responsible for sexual misconduct and sexual harassment in the Oct. 20 assault and sentenced him to be expelled, according to documents obtained by The Huffington Post.
The university told the victim on Feb. 4 that Higgs’ punishment would take effect following his graduation in May. After The Huffington Post questioned the delay, the school told the woman on Tuesday that Higgs’ expulsion was immediate.
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Laura Dunn, founder of the advocacy group SurvJustice who advised the female student, complimented the university for improving policies for sexual assault, but said she has doubts about how this case was handled. The woman and Dunn said they were furious when the school said Higgs wouldn’t be expelled until after he graduates.
“It’s shameful that the school would leave the victim and the accused wondering since December about the results of the hearing,” Dunn said. “In particular, the victim and her family struggled through this process. While the end result was just, the process was inexcusably protracted and jumbled.”
