Newly elected SG senator under Title IX investigation

By James Bennett III

The university is investigating a freshman senator in Student Government amid allegations that she sexually harassed another student and had non-consensual sexual contact with that student in a dormitory room.

Daymia “Mia” Bonilla, who was elected in October, said she was informed by the university that she is under investigation for violating Title IX, the federal law that bans sexual violence, sexual harassment and gender discrimination.

In an interview with The Crow’s Nest, Bonilla acknowledged that she, the student accuser and a third student all ingested hallucinogenic mushrooms on Oct. 26.

In a haze, Bonilla said, she then took off her shirt and proposed “having an orgy.” But she denied making non-consensual sexual contact or harassing anybody.

She is studying forensics at the university to “get justice” for victims of sexual assault, she said. “I really want to help people who go through that, and for this to be painted on me, it just really, really hurts because I would never do that ever in my life.”

Bonilla said she had never used psychedelics before and felt pressured to ingest the mushrooms because she was new to the university and wanted to fit in.

In the days that followed, she said, the other students pointedly ignored her. Then, Bonilla said, she received a text from her accuser.

If she didn’t resign from the SG senate, the text said, a Title IX complaint would be filed against her.

“I really hope people don’t see me differently” because of the allegations, Bonilla said. “I really hope people take into account that (the accuser and friends) are not trustworthy people. They’re very dramatic people.” 

Bonilla’s accuser provided a copy of the complaint to The Crow’s Nest but declined to be publicly named. As a policy, the newspaper does not identify people who say they were victims of sexual harassment or sexual violence. 

This is not the first time that Student Government leaders have been accused of Title IX violations or harassment.

In May 2017, the vice president-elect of SG, Samuel Goetz, was expelled from school after the university determined that he had sexually assaulted a female student in his dorm room in September 2016.

Goetz sued the university and the expulsion was eventually removed from his academic record.

In August 2016, SG president Ziya Kardas and vice president Gina Rotunno took leaves of absence for reasons that were never explained to the student body. In early 2017, they both resigned. 

The leaves of absence apparently came after a dispute between Kardas and Rotunno that involved allegations of harassment.

Kardas told The Crow’s Nest that the university investigated the allegations and he was “completely cleared.”

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Written by: James Bennett on December 20, 2019.
Last revised by: Kat Piccolo