Valencia College now undergoing a probe of another sort.
Students at Valencia College are suing, claiming they were forced to undergo
transvaginal probes in front of their classmates as part of their instruction in a medical diagnostic sonography program:
"Valencia positioned these transvaginal probes as voluntary, but its actual policy and practice was that they were not," according to the lawsuit.
The suit also describes weekly probes for students in the program, saying they "endured these invasive probes without a modicum of privacy. Plaintiffs would disrobe in a restroom, drape themselves in towels, and traverse the sonography classroom in full view of instructors and other students."
"A student would place a condom over the probe and then apply generous amounts of lubrication to the probe. In some cases, the student would have to sexually 'stimulate' plaintiffs in order to facilitate inserting the probe into plaintiffs' vaginas," the lawsuit alleges.
Although they were billed as voluntary,
students say otherwise:
When the students expressed concerns to program chair Barbara Ball, she told them "they could find another school if they did not wish to be probed," the suit says.
And:
"The college's instructors retaliated against them by saying they would reduce their grades, they would blacklist them within the medical community, and they would not be able to get a job," Dillingham said.
As you can imagine, with allegations this serious and a lawsuit in motion, the teachers and administrators are the ones who'll face a very public probe now. For more details on the lawsuit and allegations, see
WESH.com's report here.