Title IX claims filed against Les Aspin founder

By Skyler Chun skyler.chun@marquette.edu

Around 8 p.m. one night in January 2022, David Chrisbaum, a senior in the College of Arts & Sciences, made the two-minute commute from his apartment to the Les Aspin Center in Washington, D.C. — and into Rev. Timothy O’Brien’s living room —to ask a question: “What is the essay about?”

But that night, Chrisbaum left with more questions than answers.

Chrisbaum said he had been sexually harassed by O’Brien, a Marquette professor, priest and founder of the Les Aspin Center program that night, though he said he did not realize it at the time. Chrisbaum said comments about his sexuality – and others –would later occur multiple times throughout the semester.

This event would lead to a Title IX investigation, part of a year-long process that Chrisbaum said deals with 23 witnesses and a 651-page document that transcribes the details of these cumulative experiences. It was also not the first – or last – case to be filed against O’Brien.

The Marquette Title IX office confirmed to the Marquette Wire on Monday that the investigation is still ongoing. O’Brien did not respond to multiple phone calls and emails requesting comment.

Spring 2022

That spring, Chrisbaum had been a student in the Les Aspin Center for Government, a program designed for Marquette students to live, study and work in the nation’s capital, gaining real-world experiences through internships on Capitol Hill or neighboring areas.

For nearly 35 years, more than 2,500 students have gone through the program, walking the same path between the Marquette-owned apartment and the Les Aspin Center, just as Chrisbaum did that night.

Each semester, a cohort of about 20 students live in a gray three-story apartment with a royal blue door at 4 4th St. SE. They turn the corner and cross the street to 502 E. Capitol St. SE, a red brick building with a blue plaque that reads “The Les Aspin Center for Government” for any class and program-related events. The center also serves as a home for O’Brien, who has access to both buildings at all times.

O’Brien was teaching a course on lobbyist and special interest groups that semester, but after confusion on the first essay that was assigned, Chrisbaum asked to meet outside of class. Chrisbaum said O’Brien scheduled a meeting for 8 p.m. in his living room one night.

“I was just trying to find out what the essay was about, but he kept going on tangents,” Chrisbaum said. “We were talking about the Church. I was interested in the priesthood at some point in my life … ”

Chrisbaum said that’s when a conversation about the Church led to one about sexuality. After mentioning the Church’s stance on LGBTQ+ rights, Chrisbaum said O’Brien asked him if he was gay.

“I was taken aback by the comment because nobody, or no professor, has just outright asked or been so direct (about my sexuality) like that,” Chrisbaum said.

“It was just weird in that situation in his living room having a conversation about that. Just really weird.”

Chrisbaum said he did not think it was sexual harassment at first. To him, it was just a weird and uncomfortable situation.

But then Chrisbaum said he continued witnessing and experiencing other incidents that he thought were weird or confusing, including discussions of sex in professional settings and inappropriate racial or degrading comments.

In one incident, Chrisbaum recalled O’Brien referring to an Arab woman on campus as “Saddam Hussein” in a joking manner. Chrisbaum also said another friend of his came home crying one night because of other racially degrading comments made by O’Brien.

“There were just a lot of things culminating,” Chrisbaum said. “I started talking to people and was like ‘Did he talk to anybody about this?’ I was like ‘I’m just going to leave it there, that’s fine,’ but then there was another incident with one of my friends and it just kind of continued.”

At the end of the semester, Chrisbaum said he had another one-on-one with O’Brien.

“(O’Brien) had gotten hundreds of Marquette students jobs in D.C.,” Chrisbaum said. “I wanted to ask him about next steps, jobs. But O’Brien went into an elaborate story about this basketball player that he helped get into Harvard Law School.”

But Chrisbaum said this story about law school somehow turned into a story about sex. And that’s when inappropriate comments came again.

Chrisbaum said that O’Brien made comments referring to the basketball player’s genitalia and oral sex.

“I was like ‘I asked you for professional advice. Why are you talking about this?,’” Chrisbaum said. “I thought ‘That’s really strange’ and I went back and asked everyone in the program ‘Is this weird?’ I initially played it off.”

Chrisbaum said he then