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Case Study of the University of Montana


Background of the Case
On December 15, 2010, Kelsey Belnap attended an off-campus party with a friend to
celebrate the end of her first semester at the University of Montana at Missoula. Belnap had
several drinks throughout the night and realized her level of intoxication was becoming too much
for her to handle. She stopped drinking and found herself in a bedroom she was not familiar
with. Belnap awoke and found a male U of M student forcing himself on top of her before she
blacked out from intoxication. She then awoke again to find another student assaulting her. That
night, four U of M football players had sexually violated Belnap before she called a friend to
take her to the hospital.
At the hospital, Belnap reported her rape to the Office of Public Safety, the local police
that worked in tandem with the university, and had a rape kit examination performed on her.
Belnap states the authorities advised her to keep silent of the incident, directing Belnap to not tell
the university of the assault (Hoye). The Missoula County Attorneys office declined to prosecute
the four football players claiming, in a letter written by the attorney, Kristen Pabst, that there
were only three people involved in the sexual encounter (Haake). This was proven inconsistent
with DNA evidence obtained from Belnap during her rape kit examination showing that four
individuals did have vaginal sex with her. Belnap also states the football players were only
interviewed five to seven weeks after the assault, which would have given them enough time to
corroborate their stories. Nine weeks after the original examination, law enforcement then
informed Belnap there was insufficient evidence to pursue rape allegations and closed her case.
Belnap believes her case was mishandled by the countys law enforcement due to
inconsistencies with Pabsts claims as well as intimidation tactics by police while she was filing

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the report against her assailants. She also claims the police deliberately failed to process her rape
kit as evidence until two years after the incident and failed to report photos of her injuries from
the night of the assault (Haake). In response to this, Pabst wrote to Knopf Doubleday, a
publishing company known at the time for hosting Jon Krakauers work Missoula: Rape and the
Justice System in a College Town, that Belnaps claims and Krakauers research were
inconsistent with the findings of the attorneys office. Pabst wrote that Belnap was intoxicated
but not incapacitated as defined by Montana Law, meaning that Belnap would have been able
to consent at the time of the alleged assault (Haake). Belnap requested an apology from Pabst,
stating that making these inconsistencies known along with the accompanying displays of public
humiliation were slandering her name as she sought justice for the crimes committed against her.
Belnap never received an apology and was unable to press charges against her assailants as well
as the county and university law enforcement. She distanced herself from her alma mater
following her graduation in 2013 to escape the scrutiny of the community.
University Response
According to Kidston of the Billings Gazette, head football coach Robin Pflugard was
aware of Belnaps assault in February 2011. He declined to tell school officials of his knowledge
of the assault until a year later in early 2012. This was only brought to light after the university
hired a former state Supreme Court Justice Diane Barz to investigate Belnaps and another
victims assaults (Chronicle). The university subsequently fired Pflugard and the athletic director
in March 2012 stating that the university president was looking for a change in leadership.
Several months later, Jim Foley, U of Ms Vice President, stepped down after the furor generated
over his asking if female students were in violation of the university code of conduct after
speaking out about the university filing and trialing process for assault (Kidston).

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During the investigation by Diane Barz, it was found that the university had a gap in
sexual assault reporting (Chronicle). Prior to the incident of sexual assault involving Belnap, a
number of female students had approached the university police to report their own sexual
assaults committed by U of M football players. It was found in a probe into the university by the
Justice Departments Civil Rights Division and the Department of Educations Office of Civil
Rights that between 2009 and 2012 six football players were accused of aiding, attempting, or
committing sexual assault and that three of the players werent prosecuted through the campus
judicial system for more than a year after their coach was notified that the victim had filed a
complaint with the Missoula Police Department (Reilly). These three football players were
subsequently punished while another was expelled; however, no criminal charges were filed.
The university responded to the Justice Departments probes by signing with the DOJ to
agree to policy changes, including training university employees in how to investigate and
resolve reports of assault and conducting annual surveys of students (Reilly) where all
university employees are required to report possible sexual misconduct involving students to the
schools Title IX coordinator within 24 hours (Kidston). The university also began to implement
mandatory online training for preventing sexual assaults and tips for bystander intervention
before it became federally mandated for all universities to do so (Chronicle). Despite these added
preventative measures, between the signing of the DOJ policy changes to April 2015, there were
22 reports of sexual assault, including four rape allegations.
Despite this increase in reported sexual violence, administration believes female students
are becoming more comfortable with reporting their assaults. Jessica Weltman, director of U of
Ms Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action believes that students are no longer
falling through the cracks as instances of withholding information as Pflugrad allegedly

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did would stand in violation of U of M policies (Kidston). There have also been revisions
made in the student code of conduct booklet which makes clearer the consequences made against
athletes if they are accused and found guilty of sexual assault, allowing female students to feel
safer on campus. This additional change was enforced through the student Personal
Empowerment through Self Awareness tutorial (Kidston).
Reflection of the Case Study
It is clear from the actions that took place during Kelsey Belnaps attempt to report her
sexual assault that there were a number of issues that created barriers for her to receive help and
support from the university, local police, and state prosecutors. The responses from all three
establishments are common in campus sexual assault reporting across the country and can be
broken down to show the underlying problems of sexual assault. For instance, the University of
Montana lacked a clear and concise code of conduct for student athletes who committed sexual
assault, allowing them to walk free after female students would report these incidents to
academic officials. There was also a lack of established communication between university
affiliated staff and Title IX coordinators, so if a staff member knew of an alleged assault, they
were not obligated to tell anyone. Finally, the university did not implement bystander
intervention tips or create an environment safe enough to discuss sexual assault openly until after
Belnaps case. It was only after her case did the university require all students to participate in a
tutorial program before entering the school year.
The Office of Public Safety also created barriers for Belnap to pursue a case against her
assailants. The police, who are required to remain unbiased during reports of crime,
discriminated Belnap due to her gender. These gendered biases contributed to intimidation tactics
used to keep Belnap silent about her assault, even if the police did not realize they were doing so

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subconsciously. Additionally, by advising Belnap to not report her assault to the university, the
police were choosing to deliberately leave Belnap without adequate resources to help her
prosecute her rapists. They also did not question the suspects about the night of the incident until
five to seven weeks after the report, slowing down the path to prosecution. Finally, public safety
failed to process her rape kit and display photos of her injury, which directly contributed to an
inability to file charges.
Lastly, the county attorney played a major role in the communitys perception of Belnap
and the four U of M football players. By staking an interest in the football players while Belnap
was unable to press charges against them, Pabst showed the community and local officials that
Belnap was powerless to pursue justice. Pabst also continued to falsely report information about
the assault to the public, stating information that was inconsistent with findings with the internal
investigation. Finally, the lack of a legal definition for the term consent when alcohol is
involved creates loopholes for attorneys to take advantage of, which was exactly what Pabst did
when she stated Belnap was sober enough to give consent, despite her BAC being three times
over the legal limit. Overall, it is clear that while Pabst was attempting to defend the U of M
football players, she was intentionally discrediting Belnaps case without access to a fair trial.

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Bibliography
Reilly, R. J. (2013, May 9). University of Montana Rape Reports Botched, U.S. Finds. Retrieved
November 28, 2016 from http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/05/09/university-ofmontana-rape_n_3247466.html
Hoye, S., Chakraborty, R., (2015, April 17). Is the University of Montana the blueprint for
sexual assault response?. Retrieved November 28, 2016 from
http://america.aljazeera.com/watch/shows/america-tonight/articles/2015/4/17/is-theuniversity-of-montana-the-blueprint-for-sexual-assault-response.html
Haake, K., (2015, May 3). UM student who alleged gang-rape accuses county attorney of
blaming victim. Retrieved November 28, 2016 from
http://missoulian.com/news/local/um-student-who-alleged-gang-rape-accuses-countyattorney-of/article_edbd3e40-cd10-5b7f-b7b1-406d0c8ad389.html
Kidston, M., (2014, November 6). UM rewrites policies in aftermath of student's alleged rape by
football players. Retrieved November 28, 2016, from
http://billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/um-rewrites-policies-inaftermath-of-student-s-alleged-rape/article_f0f0158d-310b-5bae-9fd56e170e0938f3.html
Campus Sexual Assault Under Investigation at University of Montana at Missoula. (n.d.).
Retrieved November 28, 2016 from
http://projects.chronicle.com/titleix/campus/University-of-Montana-at-Missoula/

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