Monmouth University student drugged, raped freshman in 2019, bragged about it: lawsuit

FREEHOLD -- A woman who was a freshman at Monmouth University in 2019 is suing the university, a fraternity and a former sophomore student, accusing the student of drugging and violently raping her then bragging about it on campus.

Along with the university, defendants in the case are the fraternity Alpha Kappa Lambda and the accused former student, Dylan Bradley Mund, who graduated last year.

Mund was charged with sexual assault in West Long Branch in June of 2022 in connection with the events outlined in the lawsuit. The case against Mund has not gone to trial.

His attorney in the criminal case did not return calls. A message left on a listed number for Mund was not returned.

Monmouth University spokeswoman Tara Peterson and the executive director and CEO of the national Alpha Kappa Lambda organization, Jeremy Slivinski, declined comment.

Allegations against Mund, university and frat

The lawsuit, filed April 17 in Superior Court, Freehold, lays out in detail the allegations against Mund as well as the university and fraternity.

On Oct. 11, 2019, two months after she started school, the plaintiff went to a dance at the university with her roommate, Mund and Mund’s roommate. They returned to Mund’s four-person dormitory unit. Mund gave her a drink that tasted normal, but which the freshman later believed was drugged, the lawsuit said. After showing her around the quad, Mund took her into the room he shared with a friend of the plaintiff, who was asleep on his bed, according to the lawsuit.

Without warning, Mund pushed her down on the bed, the lawsuit said.

“Plaintiff was shocked and attempted to defend herself, telling defendant Mund “No!” and “Stop!”, but the drug in plaintiff’s drink was already taking its toll,” the complaint reads.

As she continued to struggle, she told Mund he was hurting her and he said “I don’t f***ing care” as he violently raped her, the suit says.

Complaint: Victim woke up 'aching from head to toe'

She woke up in the quad room alone “aching from head to toe” and “even felt the dull pain of internal bruising to her vaginal walls,” the complaint reads.

A fellow student, Victoria Costa, told the woman that Mund was bragging about having raped her and used derogatory language about her body, according to the lawsuit. When she saw Mund on campus, he taunted her, pointing at her and snickering, the suit says.

Two other fellow students came to her and told her about Mund’s boasts about raping her, the suit said. An acquaintance told her that Mund was taking his “fraternity-honed tactics for exploiting women to local bars,” the suit reads.

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Mund called himself the “Founding Father and President” of the Monmouth University chapter of Alpha Kappa Lambda, an organization that regards its members as “men of character committed to making a difference,” according to the suit.

The fraternity was not officially recognized by the university, but there is nothing in the student code of conduct banning being recruited into one, the lawsuit reads.

The freshman woman chose Monmouth University because of its cost, proximity to her home, its academic reputation and because it touted itself as having a safe campus. The plaintiff recalled seeing written material from the university saying it had on average four sexual assaults a year, significantly below the national average, according to the lawsuit.

Lawsuit: Binge drinking prevalent at the university

The lawsuit says that binge drinking is prevalent at the university and that fraternity houses “hold events wherein young women are secured to fraternity brothers using zip ties. The new couples are provided with a jug of alcohol and no supervision with predictable results.”

The lawsuit also says that fraternity brothers traffic in date rape drugs to incapacitate young women and have sex with them against their will.

Monmouth contributed to the “culture of unaccountable drug and alcohol abuse engaged in by defendant Mund and (Alpha Kappa Lambda)" that led to the sexual assault of the plaintiff, according to the suit.

By not requiring local chapters to register first with their host college or university, Alpha Kappa Lambda made it so school administrators have no authority over local chapters, according to the suit.

The university should have known Mund was a danger since he was "separated from a prior institution after sexual assault allegations were raised against him,” the suit reads.

Among other demands in the lawsuit, she is asking for the university to amend its student code of conduct to include zero tolerance for possession of date rape drugs and that they conduct reasonable investigations into the disciplinary records and possible criminal records of transfer students.

She also is demanding that the university forbid the transfer of students who have allegations of sexual assault or misconduct against them, absent clear evidence of innocence, the lawsuit said.

Ken Serrano covers crime, breaking news and investigations. Reach him at 732-643-4029 or at kserrano@gannettnj.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: NJ woman sues Monmouth University, alleging she was drugged, raped