In a case that has become a cause célèbre among Men's Rights Activists (MRA), a vote on a candidate for president of a community college was postponed after the college learned he had failed to inform it that he was on administrative leave for allegedly sexually harassing a colleague.
According to a police report released by the Portland Police Department on Wednesday, the chief academic officer of instruction and student services for the Chemeketa Community College District will not face any charges for an incident which allegedly prevented him from becoming president of Central Oregon Community College (COCC).
According to the report, Patrick Lanning was attending the "2014 Annual Student Success & Retention Conference" at the Sheraton Portland Airport Hotel in February when he accused by a fellow attendee of sexually assaulting her. Colleagues of both Lanning and the alleged victim told police that the evening began with drinks at the hotel's bar and a trip to Famous Dave's BBQ. The group returned to the Sheraton and all but for Lanning, the alleged victim, and two other Chemeketa employees retired to their rooms.
One of those employees, David Hallett, the Executive Dean of General Education and Transfer Studies, told police that Lanning and the alleged victim appeared to flirting. The other, Executive Dean of Student Development and Learning Resources Jim Eustrom, said that it "appeared to him that they were cuddling and [seated] very close to each other."
The alleged victim admitted that if Hallett and Eustrom testified to that effect, "it must be true."
Eventually, however, Chemeketa's Dean of Student Retention and College Life, Manuel Guerra, returned to the bar and inquired into the alleged victim's well-being. She said that she felt ill, and Guerra and escorted her to hotel room. Once there, the alleged victim confessed to Guerra and another dean, Susan Murray, that she was "very upset [that] Patrick [Lanning] is going to come here."
Surveillance footage from the elevator shows that Lanning did take the elevator to the alleged victim's floor approximately five minutes after she returned to her room with Guerra and Murray.
The next morning, the alleged victim found Lanning's glasses in her room, and told police "she had a feeling that Mr. Lanning had been in her hotel room...but that it may have been a dream and that she did not remember for sure what took place in her hotel room." When Murray met with the alleged victim the next morning, she was told that she "did not feel safe" at the conference after what had transpired with Lanning.
At that point, Lanning was asked by conference officials to leave. Chemeketa placed him on paid administrative leave while it investigated the incident, and it was while on leave that Central Oregon Community College (COCC) was positioned to name him as its next president.
However, when COCC learned of the investigation, it postponed the vote and appointed an interim president instead.
Despite the fact that COCC has merely postponed the vote until Chemeketa concludes its investigation -- and that its main concern was that Lanning failed to disclose that he was currently on administrative leave -- the case has become a cause célèbre among Men's Rights Activists (MRA), who believe that Lanning is yet another victim of a woman who "cries rape to get money."
On their message boards, the Men's Rights Activist dispense advice about how to avoid being investigated for sexually assaulting an intoxicated female. One writes that "when the girl is in a room with you for the first time and there's been alcohol consumption, it's selfies time!" Another advises that men should "only fuck drunk women that do not know you and you don't know them."
"I think we should make it illegal for women to drink sense they can't handle their shit," another writes. "If they don't want any agency or responsibility, I say take it from them."
["Angry Young Man" on Shutterstock]
