Thomas Culhane, 23, faces 7.5 year minimum sentence
Coverage by Reporter Anna Nelson and Editor-in-Chief Bailley Simms
In late March, a former WSU Vancouver student was convicted of rape in the second degree after having intercourse with an incapacitated college student. Thomas Luke Culhane attended WSU Vancouver prior to transferring to the WSU Pullman campus in 2017. In his time on the Vancouver campus, Culhane worked for the Associated Students of Washington State University Vancouver and as a reporter for The VanCougar.
According to a media release from the Whitman County Prosecutor’s Office: “The convictions stem from an incident at his apartment on August 19-20, 2017 where Mr. Culhane hosted a small party where he served liquor and marijuana to his guests. The other party attendees left around 1 AM in the morning, Mr. Culhane had sexual intercourse with a female college student who stayed behind because she was too incapacitated by alcohol to get home … Mr. Culhane is scheduled for sentencing May 3, 2019 in Whitman County Superior Court where he is facing 7.5 -10 years minimum, and a life sentence maximum.”
When asked if she could confirm or deny if any reports were filed against Culhane during his enrollment at WSU Vancouver, Nancy Youlden, the WSU Vancouver vice chancellor of student affairs and enrollment, and Title IX liaison for the Vancouver campus said, “I am not able to.”
WSU Vancouver director of marketing and communications, Brenda Alling, stated that due to Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and Health Information Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) the university, “…probably can’t tell you specifically if there were complaints when he [Culhane] was a student here, but they can definitely tell you the process that a student goes through if there is a complaint.” At the time of writing, WSU Vancouver Public Safety has not yet responded to a request for comment.
According to Youlden, when the university receives a report of a Title IX policy violation, it is filed through the Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) which is headquartered on the Pullman campus. The OEO conducts investigations of Title IX and student conduct offenses.
Youlden explained that she serves as a liaison between the Vancouver campus and the OEO in Pullman. In Vancouver she serves as a Title IX resource to students and helps connect them with necessary resources if needed.
According to internal VanCougar records, Culhane was hired as a reporter in October of 2016. A review of VanCougar records show the 2016-17 VanCougar Editor-in-Chief Alex Peru filed a report via email on Nov. 4, 2016 to Youlden with regards to Culhane. The report was in reference to alleged sexual harassment perpetrated by Culhane.
Peru stated in an interview that Culhane was hired before the alleged incident and that Culhane resigned from his reporter position in February, 2017. The 2016-17 VanCougar managing editor, Haley Elmer filed Culhane’s official university Termination Request in late February, 2017. Elmer declined to comment. One of Culhane’s final articles written as a reporter was published in early December, 2016.
Former ASWSUV President Skye Troy, who served during the time that Culhane was on the Vancouver campus, publicly posted on Facebook with regards to the news of Culhane’s conviction. Her post stated, “WSU had been notified of his [Culhane’s] predatory behavior before they sent him to Pullman … WSU i expected more from you and you know that you mishandled this entirely!”
In an interview with The VanCougar, Troy stated, “I had to personally report Tommy’s [Culhane’s] behavior because of other students and what they had reported to me.” Troy added, “The reason this is so important to talk about, is this is another situation in which there was opportunities to reform his [Culhane’s] behavior. There were opportunities to protect our students and those opportunities were not taken.”
According to Youlden, all employees of Washington State University are mandatory reporters for Title IX violations such as discrimination or sex/gender based offenses. Troy explained that given her position as ASWSUV president, she was a mandatory reporter of Title IX violations. She added that she had received training on how to handle a situation in which a student might approach her with sensitive information such as sexual assault or discrimination.
Editor’s note: This story was updated on April 16 at 11:16 am
Anna Nelson is the Editor in Chief for the VanCougar. She is a senior and is studying strategic communications.
I’m curious as to what he was sentenced to today.
Thank you for this article!! Our campus (Vancouver) refused to remove a student that made MULTIPLE pro rapists and anti victim statements in class. I stopped attending the class for a time because nothing was done when vulgar statements were made towards class members, myself or just in general. Our professor reported this and our student conduct (or whomever) blatantly discarded and reports.
After a second incident with student government, I’ve given up on the university. Someone wanted to transfer there I told them about this and it made them uncomfortable. They quickly felt assured that they would stay at their current campus. Unfortunately, no other local universities are possible for me, at this time.