New lawsuit alleges sexual misconduct, retaliation against 14-year-old at Interlochen arts school

A federal lawsuit filed in the Western District of Michigan alleges a 14-year-old boarding student at Interlochen Center for the Arts, identified as A.C., was sexually assaulted and harassed by fellow students and a teacher during the 2024-25 school year, and that the school retaliated after she reported it. Interlochen says the events described did not occur and calls the complaint filled with false allegations.

The suit claims the astronomy teacher, a named defendant, assigned the student humiliating make-up work including a self-recorded video and a poem, then withheld credit and demanded private meetings, while two Title IX complaints were closed within days without meaningful investigation. Her re-enrollment was rescinded weeks after the second complaint, which her attorney calls clear retaliation.

The school has faced scrutiny before: an earlier investigative report found more than 70 alumni reporting sexual abuse by adults in Interlochen's leadership dating to the 1970s.

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