In the first semester of her freshman year at the University of Portland, Clara Ell claims she was sexually assaulted by a male student in her dorm room after a night of heavy drinking.
The way the night ended is difficult for her to remember, but the way it started is crystal-clear: Clara—a lanky girl with big brown eyes and a long mane of curls—wandered a few blocks off-campus to a house party. She and her high school friend-turned-roommate, Krista Baldwin, were recent recruits to the women's lacrosse club team, and on this night, the captains were hosting a "team bonding" party. The theme of the party was "Star Spangled Hammered"; Clara wore denim cutoffs, a blue and white striped tank top, and a red sweatshirt. She borrowed a hardhat from a friend, decorated with an all-over flag print.
Around 9 PM, the 18-year-old girls walked five blocks from their dorm on the small Catholic campus to the party. The all-girls party was still quiet when they got there, and the freshmen joined in a round of a drinking game called "Rage Cage" with their teammates, a flurry of ping pong balls bouncing into red Solo cups filled with beer. Like most drinking games, it ends with one player drinking a lot of beer from the filled-to-the-brim "bitch cup" at the center of a table.
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