“The school district reemphasizes its empathy for any individuals that may have been victimized and is grateful a resolution could be reached that benefits ETHS students and the greater Evanston school community,” Witherspoon said then. Eric Witherspoon announced in January that the district had settled a suit related to allegations against the drama teacher, he said it had agreed to spend $100,000 to improve existing programs “that address sexual assault awareness, reporting and prevention.” The lawsuit says the other security guard - who hasn’t been charged - engaged “in over 50 acts of unwanted and unauthorized sexual acts” with the same girl in 20 when she was as young as 15. One text Haywood sent to her said “a couple teachers mentioned you always looking at me a certain way and you being around (me) a lot,” according to the suit, which was filed in federal court in Chicago. The lawsuit says texts Haywood sent to the plaintiff suggest he believed staffers were suspicious. The suit seeks damages for “willful, reckless and negligent conduct in refusing to address systemic failures and documented patterns and practices of sexual abuse of minor female students.” The named defendants include Evanston Township High School District 202 and the city of Evanston. Members of the Class of 1968 Reunion Planning Committee gathered together last month at ETHS.It said the school didn’t fully inform parents of the allegations against Haywood after firing him in January. The lawsuit says Haywood began sexually targeting the plaintiff, who graduated in June and is now 18, and at least two other students soon after the school hired him in 2018. It says Haywood engaged in “unwanted and unauthorized sexual and other contact” more than 40 times with the girl, several times at the school. She is not a plaintiff in the lawsuit, which says Haywood “groomed” a different student - the plaintiff in the case - in 20 when she was 17. Tuesday’s lawsuit also raises the possibility of more victims and another purported predator among the school’s security staff.Ĭook County prosecutors charged Haywood, 34, of Evanston, with sexual assault by a person in position of authority for a 2018 incident with a 17-year-old female student. Haywood, was arrested in February on suspicion of sexually abusing a student from the high school. In addition to listing the Senior Scholarship Award recipients for the 2018-19 school year, the graduation program included ETHS academic department awards, athletics awards, National Honor Society members, National Merit honorees, and Illinois State Scholars and Presidential Award of Academic Excellence recipients.Ĭlick here for the graduation program PDF. Wallace called on her fellow classmates to remember the high school, their experiences, and “how walking through its halls was unlike any street anyone has ever navigated before - almost unplagued gentrification and housing discrimination that divides the ZIP codes we live under today.” To hear the full poem, click here. ![]() She credited her “Evanston-inspired values” for her groundbreaking work that uncovered sexual harassment and misconduct and strengthened the “Me Too” movement.Ĭlick here to view the ETHS Class of 2019 graduation ceremony.ĮTHS values were also highlighted in an original poem written by Class of 2019 graduate Liana Wallace. Commencement speaker and investigative reporter for The New York Times, Megan Twohey (ETHS ’94), encouraged the Class of 2019 to “move through the world with awareness, integrity, gratitude, and purpose.” A past recipient of the ETHS Distinguished Alumni Award, Twohey was awarded a Pulitzer Prize for public service in 2018. ![]() More than 800 students from Evanston Township High School (ETHS) walked the stage at Northwestern University’s Welsh Ryan Arena during the Class of 2019 graduation ceremony on June 2, 2019.
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