I never thought I would be the type of parent to report their child to the authorities, but here we are. My daughter is a freshman at a prestigious university and recently came to me complaining about her TA, who she referred to as a "creep." According to her, he asked her out after class, which made her extremely uncomfortable. She told me that she named and shamed him in a class groupme.
I was initially sympathetic towards her, but upon further questioning, I discovered that her TA had simply asked her out for coffee, and had not made any advances or inappropriate comments towards her. In fact, my daughter admitted that she had never even spoken to him outside of class and didn't know him very well.
I tried to explain to her that asking someone out for coffee is not inherently creepy or inappropriate, but she refused to listen and continued to refer to him as a "creep." After a few days of this, I decided to take matters into my own hands and report her to the college's Title IX office for sexual misconduct and gender-based harassment.
The office conducted an investigation and ultimately found that my daughter had made unfounded accusations against her TA. They also found that she had violated the college's code of conduct by spreading rumors and making false statements about a PhD student.
My daughter is now facing disciplinary action from the university, including a possible suspension. She is furious with me for reporting her, and claims that I have ruined her academic career. I feel terrible about what has happened, but I also believe that I did the right thing by standing up for the truth and protecting the reputation of an innocent man.
So, am I the asshole for reporting my daughter to the Title IX office?