Protect Survivors and Hold Colleges Accountable — Pass the Tankou Bill
I’m Tanya Tankou, a survivor of the USC sexual assault scandal involving Dr. George Tyndall. I was told to trust my university, and I did. I believed the health care they provided was safe. I believed the people they employed would protect me. I believed the system was working in my favor.
What I experienced, and what hundreds of other women experienced, was betrayal.
The Tanya Tankou Campus Accountability and Survivor Protection Act is survivor-led legislation created to make sure that no college or university can ever again ignore, conceal, or enable sexual abuse.
Independent oversight of campus sexual misconduct
Full transparency from universities
Legal protections and trauma-informed support for survivors
The right for survivors to sue institutions that cover up abuse
This is not just my story, it is a national crisis. This is not just my bill, it is a call for safety, justice, and accountability on every college campus in America.
⚖️ Why This Law Is Needed
In one of the largest sexual abuse scandals in U.S. higher education history, over 700 survivors came forward to expose how the University of Southern California (USC) allowed campus gynecologist Dr. George Tyndall to continue practicing for nearly 30 years, despite repeated complaints of sexual misconduct.
USC’s response was to issue statements, promise internal reforms, and pay settlements. But the university was never held criminally accountable.
In 2021, USC paid $852 million in a civil settlement That followed a $215 million class action settlement in 2020 In total, USC paid over $1 billion to survivors No criminal charges were brought against the university, and USC never admitted wrongdoing
🔍 Looking Back and Moving Forward
We know we cannot go back in time. We know we cannot hold USC criminally accountable for what they allowed to happen to us.
But what we can do is make sure this never happens again, to anyone, at any school, under any institution.
🧾 What This Bill Would Change
The Tanya Tankou Campus Accountability and Survivor Protection Act will help ensure that no university can conceal abuse or silence survivors ever again.
This bill will:
Require independent reporting of faculty and staff sexual misconduct
Mandate external reviews of campus medical professionals
Give survivors the right to sue schools that cover up abuse
Tanya's Story
Tanya is one of the 700 women who came forward in the historic USC sexual assault case, an experience that changed the course of her life. In her memoir, What Happened Behind Those Gates: What USC Didn’t Take From Me, Tanya shares her personal journey from silence to survival, exposing the failures of a trusted institution and the strength it took to rise in the aftermath.
Her story is a powerful reflection on truth, healing, and the resilience it takes to keep going when the systems meant to protect you fall short.