Pulling Mark Filip from UVA Rape Investigation Makes “Independence” a Silly Talisman

We really don’t mean to be a mouthpiece for Kirkland & Ellis white collar lawyers.  But they’ve been in the news in recent days, this time in connection with a horrific story about widespread sexual assaults at the University of Virginia.  It describes a 2012 gang rape of a first-year student at the Phi Kappa Psi house, and the culture of acceptance and evidence suppression that has allegedly allowed many similar incidents to happen at UVA over decades.  It is hard to read, but if you have children or are at all interested in higher education, you should. UVA is in a bit of a jam now, because as Dean Nicole Eramo says in the article, “Nobody wants to send their daughter to the rape school.” 

To examine how it could improve its response to sexual assault allegations, the university hired Kirkland’s Mark Filip, a former federal judge, prosecutor, and Deputy Attorney General. We don’t have firsthand knowledge of his work, but we suspect he would have been an excellent choice here.  But his appointment didn’t last long. Instead, Filip is being pulled from the investigation because he was a Phi Kappa Psi member when he was an undergrad at the University of Illinois.  Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring said, “This situation is too serious to allow anything to undermine the confidence in the objectiveness and independence of this review.”  We guess we understand the inclination here.  It’s one of the preeminent public universities and a symbol of the state itself, and the Rolling Stone piece makes it look like a long-time enabler of the worst kinds of rapists imaginable.  Better to have the internal investigation be as untainted as possible.

But does anyone really think Filip’s time as a Phi Kappa Psi member over 25 years ago at a different school would color his approach to this investigation?  These aren’t pranks we’re talking about.  If the allegations are true, it is just about the worst criminal behavior – and coverup – you could have.  Also, the investigation will go far beyond Phi Kappa Psi.  Will former membership in a fraternity disqualify anyone from leading this investigation?  Steptoe’s Phil Khinda says, “Independence is a proxy for intellectual integrity.”  And that integrity is what you want; independence is only a means of getting at that.  We seriously doubt Filip’s intellectual integrity is compromised here.  The university will surely find someone qualified to lead the investigation, but the line drawn in cutting him out is silly.