Drama Schools Uncovered: Student Says College That Made Gary Oldman A Star Failed To Protect Her From A Classmate She Accused Of Sexual Assault
EXCLUSIVE: A female student has criticized top London drama school Rose Bruford College for failing to safeguard her after she accused a classmate of sexual assault.
Naina Dhillon, a third-year student at Gary Oldman’s alma mater, has spoken out about the school’s response to an incident that took place in September 2021 on one of her first nights celebrating her new life at university.
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Dhillon has accused a classmate of touching her inappropriately in a nightclub. She reported her concerns to a member of staff the following day and a further five times before the school finally took action nearly two years later.
During this time, she was kept in the same class as the man she accused of wrongdoing. Dhillon alleged that she has been victimized and bullied by the male classmate and his friends, which has made her school experience miserable.
The man, who we are not identifying, has denied wrongdoing and claimed Dhillon is lying about the incident. He did not respond to Deadline’s requests for comment.
After Dhillon made a formal written complaint in July, Rose Bruford said for the first time that it would endeavor to keep her and the male student in separate classes.
The college did not uphold Dhillon’s complaint, however, because her account differed from the man she accused. The school reached its decision following a two-week investigation in which it failed to contact at least one potential witness named by Dhillon. She is now appealing the ruling.
Rose Bruford declined to comment on Dhillon’s case, but said it has a “zero-tolerance policy” on sexual harassment. It said students are encouraged to raise their concerns and any complaints are dealt with constructively.
Its handling of the complaint was questioned by The 1752 Group, which campaigns against harassment in higher education. Anna Bull, the group’s co-director, said drama schools should act quickly to separate students involved in sexual assault complaints and offer alleged victims appropriate support.
Serving drama school students rarely go on record about negative experiences because they fear being punished or damaging their career prospects, particularly as teachers can act as a gateway to casting directors and agents. Dhillon is speaking out because she feels strongly that her concerns could have been handled differently by Rose Bruford and her education has suffered as a result.
She shared her story with Deadline as part of our Drama Schools Uncovered investigation, which has shone a spotlight on the culture and practices at revered UK acting institutions.
There have been at least 27 formal sexual harassment complaints at 11 of the UK’s top schools since 2020, 15 of which have been upheld. During that time, Rose Bruford has upheld three of the five sexual harassment complaints it has received, according to data obtained by Deadline.
Dhillon’s complaint has echoes of a landmark legal ruling last week against the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama over its handling of sexual assault complaints made by two former students. Royal Welsh was judged to have failed to uphold its duty of care to Sydney Feder and Alyse McCamish after they informed the school that they were victims of sexual assault by the same male student. Royal Welsh apologized to its former students.
Naina Dhillon’s Story
Dhillon, 20, fell in love with acting at a young age and said she feels at her most confident when on stage performing.
She joined the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts near Manchester in September 2021. The school, known as ALRA, was taken over by Rose Bruford in April 2022. Founded in 1950, Rose Bruford pioneered the first acting degree and counts Stephen Graham and Tom Baker among its former students.
Dhillon was toasting her new university life at Wigan’s Reef Bar & Terrace — a student nightclub hosting a 1970s-themed night for fresher’s week — when she alleged that she was assaulted by a man introduced to her earlier in the evening by a mutual friend.
Dhillon said Student X, the pseudonym we are using for the man, approached her almost immediately upon entering the club, grabbed her by the waist, and attempted to pull her towards the toilets. She said the man put his hands down the back of her underwear and touched her vagina. Dhillon said she told Student X “no” and tried to remove his arms from around her waist. The incident, which Dhillon estimated lasted for 20 seconds, ended with Student X’s friend having to “drag him away.”
Dhillon’s version of events was supported by another student whom she confided in on the night of the incident. Dhillon and her friend remembered Student X apologizing for being “annoying,” though they were not clear whether this was an admission of wrongdoing. The male friend of Student X, who allegedly intervened in the nightclub, has since said he did not see what happened, according to Dhillon. She said that he was protecting Student X.
The next morning, on what was Dhillon’s first formal day of drama school, she reported the incident to a student experience officer. Her friend, a fellow Rose Bruford student who does not wish to be identified, recalled encouraging Dhillon to raise her concerns despite her being anxious to do so.
Dhillon considers her conversation with ALRA’s pastoral care officer on September 21, 2021, as being the first time she informed the school of her allegation. Dhillon said she was told that little could be done because the incident took place off-campus and her request to be kept in a separate class was not acted upon. She said the drama school could not offer counselling because it did not have an individual qualified to handle sexual misconduct trauma.
A month later, Dhillon said she reported the incident again after being accused of being a liar by Student X and his friends. During a meeting, Dhillon claimed that the school’s former director of acting told her to keep her “head down and stay away from drama.” Her friend said she was also told to move on from the incident.
After returning to university from the Christmas holiday in January 2022, Dhillon raised her concerns for a third time with the student experience officer. Dhillon said she was told to “clear the air” with Student X, which she attempted to do, but without any formal supervision from the school.
ALRA came under Rose Bruford’s ownership in April 2022 and Dhillon said she made the school’s new management aware of her concerns last November. She said a request that she be moved to a separate class from Student X was again not acted upon.
In May 2023, Dhillon said she made a verbal complaint against Student X, claiming that he and his friends had engaged in bullying and victimization. She said this had included classmates blocking her on social media and excluding her from events. “They treat me as if I’m not there,” she said. “It’s supposed to be an environment where I feel safe and can grow, but it doesn’t feel like that at all.”
Two months later, Dhillon made a formal written complaint amid concerns that rumors about her were circulating among a wider pool of students. She repeated for a sixth time her allegation of sexual assault against Student X.
Copying Rose Bruford’s new principal Randall Whittaker into her email, she wrote: “I have been put in classes before and made to work with him and tried my best to put it behind me but it is getting to the point where I don’t want to come into school anymore and my mental health is severely damaged by it.”
Complaint Dismissed
Rose Bruford conducted a two-week investigation, at the end of which acting principal Mary Oliver told Dhillon: “As there is a difference in the accounts from you and [Student X] it was not possible to uphold your complaint.” Deadline has confirmed that Rose Bruford failed to interview all of the potential witnesses named by Dhillon.
Oliver said the school did not dispute her version of events, but said it had “little or no control” of behavior outside of its premises. Rose Bruford urged Dhillon to report her allegation of sexual misconduct to the police and said if more evidence comes to light, it will “look again” at her concerns. Dhillon is reluctant to inform the police because the overwhelming majority of sexual violence claims in the UK do not end in conviction.
Oliver acknowledged that there was “tension” between Dhillon and Student X, and said that they would be kept in separate classes “as far as possible.” She added that staff training on sexual harassment would be reviewed.
Dhillon is now appealing the ruling. She is also considering complaining to the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education in the event she is unsatisfied with the outcome of her appeal.
“It has been damaging to have to try and prove myself over and over again and being told, ‘We can’t do anything, we’re not going to look into it.’ It’s a hard thing to hear,” she told Deadline. “Every time I’ve made a complaint, I’ve thought about the consequences to me, even though I haven’t done anything wrong. We’re currently getting cast for our third-year shows and I worried that if I made a complaint, I might not get a prominent role.”
Rose Bruford “Failed”
Bull, co-director of The 1752 Group, said last week’s ruling against the Royal Welsh College of Music & Drama shed light on the shortcomings in Rose Bruford College’s handling of Dhillon’s case.
“This judgment underlines the responsibilities of higher education institutions to take action on receiving reports – including a risk assessment and implementing precautionary measures to keep students safe. This could include, for example, moving the accused student to a different class while the report is investigated, as a non-prejudicial measure,” Bull said.
“Rose Bruford should have done that the moment the student came forward, as well as discussing with her whether she wanted to report her claims to the police and launching a formal investigation into her report. She should have also been offered counseling and emotional welfare support.”
“This new legal judgment – the first recent case to be brought by those targeted for abuse rather than accused parties – confirms that higher education institutions do have a duty of care to carry out investigations when they receive allegations of sexual assault. This duty is not new; it has been clear in guidance since 2016. As such, the judgment shows the college’s actions in a stark light as failing to uphold this duty.”
In a statement, Rose Bruford said: “While the college does not comment on specific cases, Rose Bruford College has a zero-tolerance policy in regards to acts of discrimination or harassment by staff or students, and is committed to promoting equality, diversity and inclusion in all aspects of college life.
“Students are actively encouraged to voice any concerns about experiences they may have had to our student services team, who are on hand to support them should they wish to pursue a formal complaint. Complaints are dealt with constructively and the college seeks to resolve concerns and complaints in a spirit of cooperation and collaboration. For confidentiality reasons, the college will not comment further on specific cases or complaints.”
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