Samea Derrick and Lydia Dixon: UCLA students describe horrific hazing and sexual assault at summer camp
Warning: This article contains a recollection of sexual abuse. Readers' discretion is advised.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Two UCLA students have claimed they faced a horrifying hazing ritual as camp counselors at a summer camp for university alumni. They said the hazing included stripping naked in front of coworkers and binge drinking which led to sexual assault. Samea Derrick, 19, and Lydia Dixon, 20, filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court against the University of California Regents accusing two men of sexually assaulting them at the camp.
Bruin Woods is known for being a student-run Lake Arrowhead summer getaway camp for UCLA alumni and families. For Derrick and Dixon, however, what they thought would have been a thrilling experience turned into a nightmare. They alleged they were subjected to physical and verbal abuse, forced to binge drink, and strip naked. Both of them left the camp less than a week into the program which was supposed to run for 11 weeks.
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Derrick claimed she tried to inform the leadership of the counselor group and those running Bruin Woods of her ordeal, but they did nothing. The two students claimed they had heard rumors about the heavy drinking, partying and sex that went on at the camp. Their soon-to-be-bosses allegedly even sent them a packing list that included a fake ID, condoms, and birth control.
"They're creating a place for people to be assaulted, like with binge drinking, with doors that don't lock and with way more women than men," Derrick said, according to ABC7. "It's so dangerous."
The lawsuit claims Derrick began to face the hazing on the drive to Bruin Woods. "You stop at this liquor store right before you go up this very windy road, and they give you a Four Loko," said Derrick, referring to a malt liquor drink. "The goal is to finish the entire Four Loko as you go up the mountain without throwing up."
Both of them alleged they were forced to drink heavily and it did not matter that they were underage. Dixon said she drank so much at the beginning of the week that she blacked out and was sexually assaulted while asleep by a male counselor. "That (first) night, I got really drunk and I actually ended up blacking out," Dixon said. "And that's when I got assaulted by the returning staffer."
Dixon said when she reported the incident, the staffer was kicked out of the camp but things did not get better. The lawsuit alleges they were forced to do tasks that were said to be so-called traditions, including being coerced into removing their shoes and putting pillowcases over their heads. They were allegedly marched into the woods and forced to hold their arms up until they lost circulation. They were also made to strip naked in front of everyone and jump on a slip-n-slide that led to the lake. "I was scared," said Derrick. "Like, I barely knew these people."
At a party one night, the newcomers found themselves among naked staff members. They were also asked to remove their clothes. "All of a sudden I just see all of the returning staffers naked," Dixon said. "I was so shocked... when I walked into that room, it felt like everyone was like the guy who assaulted me." The counselors tried to assure her that "if I just took off my clothes, I'd feel so much better and this is how they build trust."
Derrick said she was assaulted that night but her complaint was given no importance. "When I woke up on Thursday morning, I was naked in my bed, and I just had like sheer panic ... because I didn't know what had happened," she said. After the two students returned, they informed the university's Title IX office about their experience and even sought an attorney.
"Before coming to Bruin Woods, I saw them as this awesome community of people who really loved each other," said Dixon. "Seeing that's what they did or that's what they had to do to get that community just made me feel really sad, because I thought it was something that it wasn't."
A political science major, Dixon still attends classes in person. She says she is afraid of running into her assaulter. Derrick studies environmental science and took a quarter off from UCLA after she reportedly suffered multiple panic attacks while seeing other camp counselors on campus. She is hoping to return soon.
Attorney Scott Carr of Greene Broillet and Wheeler, who represents both Dixon and Derrick, said, "This has been going on for a long time and it needs to stop. You look at fraternities. For a long time, they were hazing, and a lot of it was kept under the radar because of secrecy, because of coercion. Things people do to prevent it from becoming public."
Meanwhile, the university said in a statement, according to Los Angeles Times, "When we learned of the alleged incidents earlier this year, they were referred to our Title IX Office and are being handled according to university policies and procedures. Our top priority is the well-being of our students, staff and families, and we have robust policies in place to review all claims of misconduct.”