The Bwog story also says that the third accuser, whom it identifies by the pseudonym "Josie," decided to bring a complaint after "a mutual friend" of hers and Nungesser's told her he had been named in a sexual-assault complaint. The article provides no clue as to the identity of this friend. But Nungesser says that at the hearing on Josie's charge, the ADP officer who had sought to have him expelled from the society openly admitted that she had encouraged Josie to come forward.
Nungesser's claim about the ADP officer's testimony is confirmed by Michael Roberson (not his real name), who attended the hearing as his official supporter. Columbia rules allow both parties in a sexual-assault case to have a "supporter" from the university community who assists them in a quasi-advocacy capacity; Roberson, then a graduate student who had no prior acquaintance with Nungesser, took on this role as part of his service in a mentoring program for undergraduates. Currently an academic consultant living in his native England, he was interviewed for this article by video call. While he now believes that the charges against Nungesser are "completely false," he stresses that he "did not have that impression going in" and undertook the task simply out of commitment to due process for those accused of offenses.
The charge brought by Josie was the only one on which Nungesser was initially found "responsible," with a sentence of disciplinary probation. But that finding was later overturned; Nungesser's appeal cited various errors and improprieties, including the admission of hearsay, and claimed that the burden of proof-"preponderance of the evidence"-had not been met. When the complaint was referred for a new hearing, Josie decided to withdraw from the process. (The New York Times article suggested that this was because she had already graduated and was unable to participate, but in fact, Josie had already graduated at the time of the first hearing.) The second hearing cleared Nungesser on that charge as well.
Nungesser has always staunchly denied that anything happened between him and Josie; he says he attended the party but never followed her upstairs and certainly never groped her or tried to kiss her, and that the accusation was a ploy to get him kicked out of ADP. As evidence that Josie was not uncomfortable around him, he offers a screenshot of a Jan. 29, 2013, email that he says she sent in response to his request on the ADP listserv to open the door if a package for him arrived in his absence. In the email, Josie not only offers a "friendly PSA" that the package can be left in the vestibule if he signs for by leaving a note on the front door, but makes a ribald joke: "People are usually pretty good about bringing in packages if they're sitting there, so unless you're waiting for a golden dildo or something equally expensive (?) it's usually worth it." (Josie declined to be interviewed for this article or to comment on the authenticity of the email.)