SAN DIEGO (CBS 8) - The former San Diego State University student was back on campus Wednesday and is eying a lawsuit after being cleared of sexual assault charges.
San Diego State University lifted a suspension against an accused student Wednesday.
In December of 2014, the university sent an email to the entire campus accusing him of sexually assaulting a co-ed at a frat party. The allegations proved to be unfounded.
"People have to know what SDSU did wrong, and people have to know that the girl made a false accusation," said Sousa.
Francisco Sousa said his reputation was damaged and he wants a formal apology from both the university and his accuser.
"I want to get back up and keep trying to live a normal life after this," he said.
With all charges dropped, no disciplinary action warranted, and his suspension officially lifted, the 21-year-old is now fighting to re-build his reputation.
"I'm not only a victim here. The fact that the girl made a false accusation also impacts real rape victims out there, and that is an important issue," he said.
He is planning to file a civil suit against SDSU, not only requesting monetary damages but also demanding the school issue a public apology thru a mass email. The same way the university falsely named him a sexual predator last winter.
Sousa believes SDSU initially pursued charges against him in response to mounting student pressure on the administration to address a spate of more than a dozen reported sexual assaults on or near campus last school year.
"San Diego Sate just wanted someone as an example to basically say - "hey, we are being tough on crime" - here's this guy. The problem was, that I wasn't guilty," he said.
According to Sousa's attorney, the university failed to hand over his client's disciplinary files and other documents relevant to mounting defense until after Sousa was cleared of any wrongdoing.
SDSU has not commented on the case.
Some of the footage in this video story was shot using a GoPro camera.