Explosive Sexual Assault Lawsuit Hits Villanova University

Villanova University, which, along with former Villanova University student Elijah Katzenell, has been named a defendant in a lawsuit filed over an alleged rape and sexual assault (photo by Victor Fiorillo)

Over the last several days, thousands of Villanova University students both new and returning have moved onto campus. Classes started on Monday. The first week of classes at Villanova is sometimes called Sylly Week, in part because it’s when students go over their syllabi with their professors. It’s also called Sylly Week because students like to, well, get silly. They drink. They party. The whole thing kicks off on the first night of school, predictably called Sylly Night. But one young woman alleges that Sylly Night 2022 ended with rape and sexual assault, events she describes in a just-filed lawsuit.

The woman filed the lawsuit in Philadelphia. Among others, she named as defendants Villanova University, various business entities associated with the popular off-campus student housing complex in Bryn Mawr known as College Hall, and former Villanova student Elijah Katzenell. The woman identifies herself only as “C.A.”

In the lawsuit, C.A. says she started off Sylly Night in 2022, the first day of her sophomore year, drinking at a big party at College Hall, which is commonly referred to as the Courts. She says there were “limitless supplies of alcoholic beverages” at the party and that many of the students there were, like her, under legal drinking age. C.A. says she became “highly intoxicated” after about two hours at the party and took an Uber from the party to her dorm at Sheehan Hall on Villanova’s campus.

While in the Uber, she says she received a message from Katzenell, whom she had known from her freshman year, asking her to visit him in his dorm room, which was also in Sheehan Hall. According to the lawsuit, she had more to drink in the dorm room, where Katzenell’s roommate and another male student were present. And the next thing she remembered was waking up in her bed about 12 hours later, wearing a t-shirt that wasn’t hers and no underwear. C.A. says she confronted Katzenell, who allegedly told her that he had sex with her. She allegedly retrieved her underwear from his room.

C.A. reported the incident to the Villanova University Police Department. The Delaware County District Attorney’s Office eventually charged Katzenell with sexual assault and indecent assault of an unconscious person. He’s out on $1 million bail and scheduled for trial in September.

According to an affidavit of probable cause provided to Philly Mag by the Delaware County District Attorney’s Office, C.A. told investigators that she had no memory of having sex with Katzenell nor consenting to have sex with him. The affidavit goes on to allege that Katzenell had intercourse with C.A. while she appeared to be unconscious, that Katzenell’s roommate admitted to “assisting” Katzenell during the alleged assault, and that the other male student in the room took video of part of the incident, a video that investigators have in their possession. The roommate and the other student both indicated to police that it was obvious that C.A. was highly intoxicated, and that none of the three men were intoxicated, according to the affidavit.

Investigators allege that after the incident in the dorm room, Katzenell and the two other students transported C.A. to a first-floor bathroom in the dorm building and that one of them then went to C.A’s dorm room and told her roommate that C.A. needed her help in the bathroom. When police interviewed the roommate, she said that when she found C.A. in the bathroom, she was incoherent and unable to stand, that her bodysuit was unbuttoned, and that she had vomited. According to the affidavit, the roommate told police that it took her several hours to get C.A. back to her dorm room.

Katzenell’s roommate and the other student have not been charged with any crimes. Katzenell and the roommate have both left Villanova. The other student’s LinkedIn page lists him as a current Villanova student, and the University did not provide Philly Mag with his enrollment status when we requested it.

In her lawsuit, C.A. is seeking compensatory damages from Katzenell and the other two male students. She accuses Katzenell and his Villanova roommate of rape, sexual assault and other offenses. C.A. also accuses all three men of conspiracy, alleging that Katzenell and the roommate “overtly raped, sexually assaulted, and indecently assaulted C.A.” while the third student “recorded the acts” in the Villanova dorm room.

And she says the three men aren’t the only ones at fault.

C.A. accuses Villanova University of negligence, listing many things she says Villanova failed to do to protect her and keep her safe, and to educate her and other students about sexual assault, alcohol abuse, and the potential for problems on Sylly Night. She alleges that Villanova failed to train resident advisors on how to spot and help intoxicated students and that the university failed to have resident advisors posted at the entrances to the dorms to monitor students returning from Sylly Night activities.

C.A. also alleges that the parties and illicit behavior at College Hall are well known to both Villanova and the company that manages the property, and she’s suing both for not doing enough to prevent dangers on the premises. As the suit reads, “Villanova was fully aware of ongoing student behavior, underage alcohol consumption, and multiple violations of the law that occur and have occurred at [College Hall] for generations of Villanova students.”

Katzenell, the two other men in the dorm room, the various business entities associated with College Hall, and the attorney representing Katzenell in the criminal matter did not respond to requests for comment. A spokesperson for Villanova declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing the pending litigation, but did say that “providing a safe community for our students, faculty and staff is our highest priority.” The spokesperson went on to say: “We find any kind of sexual misconduct abhorrent, and it is not tolerated at Villanova.”