Former students allege widespread abuse at UNCSA from past decades

The University of North Carolina School of the Arts faces a lawsuit by former students who say they were victims of sexual abuse. The Winston-Salem Journal reports that most of the plaintiffs were students at the school in the 1980s. 

The complaint alleges that they were inappropriately touched or were groomed for sexual relations by their instructors and that nothing was done when they reported the actions to administrators.

The filing represents only the plaintiffs' side of the case.

The defendants in the lawsuit, in addition to the university, are a group of faculty and administrators. The Journal reports that most of them have died or retired in the decades since the acts are alleged to have occurred. Neither a university spokeswoman nor living defendants commented when reached by the newspaper.

In 2019 North Carolina passed the SAFE Child Act, which opened a two-year window for new lawsuits for child abuse victims who had previously been barred by the statute of limitations.