Title IX Proceeding Determined Former Vanderbilt Linebacker Responsible of Sexual Assault
A former Vanderbilt football manager is publicly sharing her story that she survived a sexual assault by former Vanderbilt football player Charles Wright.
Regan Siems shared her account of the incident on Saturday in a series of tweets. In them, she named Wright, then a fifth-year senior and All-SEC linebacker as the person who raped her in the player's dorm room in 2018.
Documentation shared by Siems with Sports Illustrated's Commodore Country verifies her claims that a Title IX proceeding conducted by Vanderbilt University found Wright. guilty of sexual assault-intercourse and sexual assault-contact. The university findings did lead to Wright's expulsion from the institution according to those documents.
Attempts to reach Wright for comment have not been returned.
In her posts telling her story, Siems wrote the following.
"Now I finally have the strength to say what has burdened me down for such a long time. I was raped my freshman year of college by Charles Wright (@llcdub). He (as a 5th-year senior) preyed on my naivety, got me drunk, sexually assaulted, and raped me.
I was told that my case would not stand up in court, and my character was attacked and dragged through the mud during my Title IX by people I considered to be friends. Since I worked with VU football, my workplace became hostile, yet I didn't want to quit to maintain a sense of normalcy in my life, while everything else seemed to turn upside down. I received the final report from Title IX in October 2018, where Wright was found RESPONSIBLE for sexual assault- intercourse and sexual assault- contact.
As a result of his expulsion, he was not permitted to be on Vanderbilt's campus, yet he disregarded that as he participated in Vanderbilt ProDay (Football fully allowed this after knowing of his expulsion).
Vanderbilt Football knew Charles Wright was a rapist and covered it up in hopes of having another Commodore in the NFL. They continuously promoted his "volunteering" ventures. Vanderbilt Football perpetuates a rape culture, and the University allows it."
Attempts to reach head football coach Derek Mason through athletic department officials were denied at this time.
Athletics director Candice Storey-Lee shared a public statement from a series of tweets on Sunday referencing Title IX over Vanderbilt assault cases..
University police and Metro Nashville police have both conducted investigations into the incident, with no charges having been filed against Wright according to a source with knowledge of the situation.
This story will be updated as more information becomes available.
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