Stanford University (a43fee00)

Stanford University is the American university Alexandre Farel attends before a rape accusation derails his studies. His inability to return to the United States, complete his degree, or pursue the future he had imagined makes the institution a recurring measure of what the legal case costs him.

Alexandre’s studies and plans

At twenty-one, Alexandre identifies himself as a Stanford student when police take him into custody. He urgently wants to return to the United States so he will not miss classes, presenting his education as an immediate concern amid the shock of the accusation. The university is not merely a distant aspiration: he is already studying there, and the interruption begins with his inability to resume that life after his arrest.

The legal process and the loss of access

After his initial custody, Alexandre is placed under judicial supervision rather than detained. The restrictions nevertheless prevent him from leaving France, making a return to Stanford impossible. Over the two years of the investigation, he faces repeated summonses, evaluations, and confrontations; the uncertainty repeatedly brings the possibility of imprisonment back into his daily life. His defense lawyer unsuccessfully seeks to have the accusation reclassified as a lesser offense, and the case proceeds to the assize court.

The disruption becomes permanent in practical terms when Alexandre is arrested after approaching Mila Wizman in Paris and his judicial supervision is revoked. He is imprisoned at Fresnes before trial. At the hearing, he tells the court that the accusations have prevented him from working in the United States and completing his studies. He has lost both the chance to finish his degree and the opportunity to establish himself there.

A future still invoked

Even while describing these losses, Alexandre presents a future-oriented ambition: he tells the court that he hopes to start an artificial-intelligence company with a former Stanford student. The plan does not restore the education or American career he says he lost, but it shows that he continues to imagine a professional life beyond the case.

In his closing argument, his lawyer describes the consequences in broader terms: Alexandre has been unable to study at Stanford as he had hoped, has not obtained his degree, and has lost the future he associated with the university. The institution thus remains a concrete counterpoint to his present confinement and public stigma. The novel does not report that he returns to Stanford or completes his studies.