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Blog and Media Roundup - Friday, December 29, 2017; News Roundup
Topic Started: Dec 29 2017, 05:03 AM (102 Views)
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http://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2017/12/28/sex-assault-settlement-money-ban/108981260/

Lawmaker: No public funds for sex assault settlements
Michael Gerstein, The Detroit News Published 5:52 p.m. ET Dec. 28, 2017

Lansing — The chairman of a powerful state House committee wants to stop Michigan’s public colleges and universities from using taxpayer money to settle legal claims related to sexual misconduct.

Rep. Klint Kesto, chairman of the House Law and Justice Committee, said Thursday he plans to introduce legislation banning the practice. The Commerce Township Republican’s committee is an initial destination for key pieces of criminal justice legislation that go on to the full House floor or Gov. Rick Snyder’s desk.

Kesto said the bill comes in response to the scandal involving former Michigan State University Dr. Larry Nassar, who has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting patients while working for USA Gymnastics and as a Michigan State University doctor.

Nearly 150 girls and women have alleged sexual assault and have sought legal representation in civil lawsuits against Nassar, MSU, Gedderts’ Twistars USA Gymnastics Club, USA Gymnastics and other individuals. USA Gymnastics reached a $1.25 million settlement with one of Nassar’s victims in December 2016, according to the Los Angeles Times and other outlets, while MSU has agreed to set up a $10 million fund to cover mental health services for victims.

“Let’s stop it from happening, then they don’t have to pay it out,” Kesto said in a Thursday interview about his proposed ban on potential university payouts. “And when it does happen, let’s not have it continue like it did in this Nassar case, over and over again. Then you don’t need a fund.”

Michigan State University spokesman Jason Cody said lawsuits involving Nassar and the university are ongoing and would not comment on any potential settlements, saying “it is not appropriate to speculate.”

Nassar has been sentenced to 60 years in federal prison on charges stemming from having 37,000 pornographic images of children. He also pleaded guilty in separate state cases led by Attorney General Bill Schuette’s office to 10 charges of first-degree sexual assault of young girls during routine medical visits involving nine girls.

House Speaker Tom Leonard, R-Dewitt, has called for MSU President Lou Anna Simon to resign over the handling of the Nassar allegations. Leonard and other House GOP leaders decide which bills get floor votes.

Lawsuits from victims of former Penn State University assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky ended up costing $109 million in settlements, according to the Associated Press.

Nassar’s attorneys filed an appeal earlier in December in the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals over the child pornography charges.

mgerstein@detroitnews.com
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http://www.dbknews.com/2017/12/29/umd-sexual-misconduct-title-ix-harvey-weinstein-campus/

Amid nationwide sexual assault allegations, UMD official says “we may need to step it up”
By Jillian Atelsek
Published December 28 at 9:43 PM

After months of sexual misconduct allegations against high-profile figures, members of the University of Maryland community hope these events will ignite a movement at this university and other institutions nationwide.

In the wake of revelations of film producer Harvey Weinstein's alleged abuse of more than 80 women, accusations of misconduct have surfaced against numerous other national figures, including actor Kevin Spacey, comedian Louis C.K., Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), former Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), former Today Show host Matt Lauer and longtime television host Charlie Rose.

"This is a conversation that really needs to keep going," said Andrea Goodwin, director of this university's Office of Student Conduct. "This is kind of the beginning of the next phase of adjudicating sexual misconduct and addressing sexual misconduct on college campuses, but even beyond that."

Students at this university said they plan to use the movement's attention to take local action. Members of Preventing Sexual Assault, for example, hoped the recent flood of allegations would inspire more students to get involved with the student organization's mission of supporting survivors and discourage acts of sexual violence.

"When [cases] are not in the national spotlight, people don't really give it a second thought," said Kerrigan Stern, a junior journalism major and PSA's recruitment chair. "It's amazing that these people are coming forward, but I want people to realize that this is not just in Hollywood — this is real people like us."

LaVonne Whitehead, lead educator for this university's CARE to Stop Violence office, which works with victims of sexual misconduct, wrote in an email that she has hope for a growing movement on the campus.

"[Any time] issues of assault are brought into the national conversation the hope is to mobilize allies to engage in a discourse that continues to create social change," Whitehead wrote. "We have a long way to go, but not being afraid to have the conversation is simply the first step."

Whitehead added that while CARE does not have a direct hand in creating campus policy related to sexual violence, her office works to educate the university community on such issues. Specifically, she wrote that she wants to "create a campus culture where the default response to a survivor disclosing is supportive and not skepticism."

CARE works with the recently established Joint President/Senate Sexual Assault Prevention Task Force to design and implement non-mandatory sexual assault prevention workshops for non-freshmen, said CARE spokeswoman Carly Cottone.

"Now is a great time for us to be able to get our message out, because I think people are listening," Cottone said.

Earlier this year, university President Wallace Loh approved the task force's guidelines, including required in-person bystander intervention training for incoming freshmen, Freshmen Connection students and transfer students starting in fall 2017. Second-year undergraduate students will have required online training as of fall 2018, and third-year undergraduates will see this requirement in fall 2019.

Catherine Carroll, director of the Office of Civil Rights and Sexual Misconduct, declined to comment.

Nikki Wolfrey, a senior government and politics major and PSA member, said she believes her organization can help with "grassroots community organizing" needed to change the culture surrounding sexual violence. The group provides support and resources to survivors, regardless of whether they choose to share their experiences or pursue legal action.

Between the 2014-15 and 2015-16 academic years, sexual misconduct reports at this university increased by 64 percent, complaints rose by 38 percent and investigations jumped by 44 percent, according to the second annual Student Sexual Misconduct Report. This university found seven students responsible for Sexual Assault I — any type of non-consensual penetration — during the 2015-16 academic year, and while a record number of four were expelled, the other three received more lax punishments.

Wolfrey said she thinks this university should "change the conversation regarding the reporting gap." She added that while high numbers of sexual assault reports could be perceived as negative, the presence of these reports should be seen more positively, because it means survivors feel comfortable coming forward.

"The biggest thing is having more of a direct response from the university," she said. "They want to pride themselves on being transparent — let us know that our safety is a priority."

Outgoing Panhellenic Association External Affairs Vice President Kate Shannon said she's used her position to advocate for sexual violence survivors and educate the Greek life community on sexual assault and misconduct.

"It'll be interesting to see how that conversation is discussed in Greek life in particular," the senior middle school mathematics and science major said. "With all this happening at the national level, it helps to empower women on campus that they're entitled to come out and they have the support behind them. … We owe it to our community to continue advocating and educating on these issues."

Shannon added that she is concerned about federal guidelines related to campus sexual assault.

In September, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos rescinded Obama-era Title IX regulations mandating how colleges and universities investigate and handle sexual assault cases. The department saw backlash from advocacy groups, who said the changes would benefit perpetrators and harm survivors, while DeVos and her colleagues said they intend to ensure justice and protect the due process rights of the accused.

A former student at this university filed a federal lawsuit in 2016 seeking $5 million, claiming his due process rights were violated and he was wrongfully expelled after he was found responsible for sexually assaulting a woman on the campus.

"We're going to have to monitor our policies and procedures very closely to make sure that they're aligned with federal guidance, but also to ensure that it is best for our students — both our students who are victims of someone's misconduct as well as students who are accused to protect their due process rights," Goodwin said.

Goodwin added that her office is working closely with other administrative units to get feedback from students who have reported or complained about sexual assault and harassment. In light of recent events and federal policy changes, she said "we may need to step it up a little bit."

Noah Collins, the counseling service associate director at this university's Counseling Center, said his office utilizes individual and group therapy to help survivors and people involved in these cases, and he hopes recent events will help more people to feel comfortable sharing their stories. Resources are also available to students through the CARE office, the Health Center and the OCRSM.

"Just having a place where everyone around them totally gets it, no one's going to invalidate them, and they have that support and can speak freely about their experience," he said.

As accusations against prominent public figures continue, Shannon said she believes society — and this university in particular — faces an important moment.

"The floodgates have almost opened," she said. "With any cultural movement, it takes a few brave individuals to come forward, and that opens the gates for more people to feel like they have a community of support around them. On campus, it'll be interesting to see how that plays out."
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http://www.sentinel-standard.com/news/20171228/entitled-to-fairness-what-happens-after-sexual-assault--is-reported-to-college-or-university

Entitled to Fairness: What happens after a sexual assault is reported to a college or university?
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By Audra Gamble, Erin Dietzer and Sydney Smith / Sentinel staff
Posted Dec 28, 2017 at 12:01 AM

Putting it into practice: What do colleges do when a sexual assault is reported and how could that change?

Policies that impact victims of sexual assault on college campuses are in limbo.

In September, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced that guidelines for how universities should handle reports of sexual assault under the federal Title IX law would change.

The move comes six years after President Barack Obama did a radical reworking of the same rules. Now questions about enforcement remain, as an official policy has not yet been revealed by the Department of Education, which DeVos — a Holland native — oversees.

In the meantime, local universities already have in place sexual misconduct policies that detail definitions of what is a violation and how those complaints are investigated.

What makes this process even more confusing is that each university in the U.S. creates its own definitions and policies surrounding how Title IX complaints are handled. These individual policies are not applicable to any other universities, so students must navigate each school’s policies separately.

DeVos has now given schools choices on how they may investigate claims of sexual assault on campus, but that does not mean local universities are jumping at the chance to change their policies. Some have had their established process and policy for years, even before President Barack Obama sent a memorandum to universities in 2011 outlining stricter guidelines.

“Schools have invested a lot into the system they have now — it’s not easy to change policy,” said Rebecca Veidlinger, who owns a firm that conducts Title IX investigations at universities across the country.

Schools are required to have a misconduct policy, but these can vary between institutions because there is no definitive rule on what those policies should say — as long as there is a mechanism in place to investigate.

The definitions for sexual misconduct universities must use are outlined in the Clery Act of 1990, named after a young woman who was raped and murdered in 1986 by another student in her college dormitory. The Clery Act requires all colleges and universities that participate in federal financial aid programs to keep and disclose information about crime on and near their respective campuses.

According to the Clery Act, sexual assault is broken down into four categories: rape, fondling, incest and statutory rape (where the victim is younger than the age of consent).

The Clery Act includes oral, anal and genital penetration in its definition of rape, “no matter how slight” the penetration. Fondling is defined as “the touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, without the consent of the victim.”

The Clery Act also requires schools to publish and distribute an Annual Campus Security Report to current and prospective students and employees. The report must provide crime statistics for the prior three years, policy statements regarding various safety and security measures, campus crime prevention program descriptions, and procedures to be followed in the investigation and prosecution of alleged sex offenses.

The reporting process

When a student reports a sexual assault to a university, he or she has a series of options available.

Generally, students are encouraged to contact both the school’s Title IX office and the local police department.

If a student is unwilling to report the assault to police, a university can still take action to accommodate the student’s needs.

Often, even if a student does report an assault to the police, the victim can request immediate changes in housing or class schedule to avoid their alleged perpetrator.

These accommodations can take place before any investigation begins.

“A victim of sexual assault, their power and control is taken away from them,” Hope College Title IX Coordinator Sara Dorer said. “Everything we do then in terms of campus response is re-allowing them to gain access and control of power to whatever happens next. We’re different than the criminal justice system, so we can do that.”

Following a report of sexual misconduct, the Title IX coordinator engages in a preliminary investigation to determine if there is reasonable cause to believe the university’s student code of conduct has been violated. Universities also often provide counseling services to victims at this time.

How an investigation takes place, however, is entirely up to the individual university. The only requirement of Title IX is that each school is required to have a Title IX coordinator, who facilitates investigations.

What many schools do is an administrative investigation, which is conducted by members of the college faculty and staff who have gone through Title IX training.

Hope College has such investigations, which its officials call the “equal resolution process pool.” Hope’s president, in consultation with the Title IX coordinator, appoints the pool from staff and faculty members. The pool reports to the Title IX coordinator, and the pool members receive annual training organized by the coordinator.

At GVSU, these administrative investigations are conducted by a panel of trained investigators. Should a faculty member have an affiliation with the victim or alleged perpetrator, another investigator can take his or her place.

These investigators gather information and conduct interviews, completing a non-criminal investigation. The trained faculty and staff are not able to press any sort of criminal charges. Rather, their goal is to determine if a student has violated the student code of conduct.

Following the conclusion of the Title IX investigation, if a student is found to be in violation of university policies, the entire investigation is then turned over to the school’s dean of students office or other entity that regulates student behavior.

At some universities, like at Hope and GVSU, both the alleged victim and perpetrator can appeal the decision. At some universities, both parties may also have an adviser during meetings and interviews.

As with nearly everything else in the Title IX investigative process, the rights of both parties during the investigation can greatly vary from school to school.

Consequences

Deciding how to reprimand students who have committed acts of sexual misconduct must be decided on a case-by-case basis, Dorer said.

“In all my years of doing this, every case is gray,” Dorer said. “It depends on several factors: Has this person shown any regret or remorse? Do they have a history? Are they taking ownership for it? Were there outside factors, like the person had some misinterpretation of communication or lack of knowledge? Mental health could be involved. We review each individual case based on all factors and we train people on those spectrums.”

Reprimands are dependant on the seriousness of the crime. What further complicates the issue is that, at many universities, the Title IX office does not directly handle the consequences for students found to be in violation of the sexual misconduct policies.

At Grand Valley State University, that responsibility is handed off to the Dean of Students Office. A student found to be in violation of the school’s sexual misconduct policy can be sanctioned based on the severity of the student’s violation.

Sanctions against students can include anything from a written reprimand, required community service, loss of course credit, removal from university housing, suspension or dismissal from GVSU. Hope College has similar sanctions.

Dorer said a situation that involved unwanted kissing and fondling over the clothes, for example, would be “not awesome, but not a high-level case” and would probably result in a written sanction, or possibly probation.

“We would never give written reprimand for rape,” she said. “That’s a high-level case when you’re talking about non-consensual penetration, and that’s nothing less than suspension or expulsion.”

Typically, colleges keep records of a student’s sanctions for seven years after a student has graduated. A record of a suspension or an expulsion will be kept on file permanently.

Is the process working?

Local policies have been in place for years — even before the changes under the Obama administration — and are remaining unchanged in light of DeVos’ changes thus far — at least for the time being because schools have the option to change their threshold of evidentiary proof to determine guilt.

The Department of Education’s interim guidance allows universities to modify the standard of evidence in campus sexual assault cases. Schools can now go from using preponderance of evidence (the lowest threshold) to a clear and convincing standard (the mid-level threshold) if they so choose. The highest level of proof is the beyond a reasonable doubt standard, which courtrooms use.

Are these policies working? Veidlinger, who has personally investigated hundreds of sexual misconduct investigations, says the answer to that question is nuanced and complex.

“Some (schools) have very well trained people handling this, or some have very poor handling of these matters,” she said. “When we look at how it works, we need to take into account other aspects of the schools’ systems.

“It’s not an accurate description of the picture unless you look at all of that together.”

Preponderance of the evidence has been a controversial standard, with some saying it does not allow alleged perpetrators due process in university investigations. Veidlinger said it could be a “very fair standard” if other parts of the system are working well.

The use of the standard alone doesn’t yield fair answers, she said. That’s why it’s used in conjunction with other policies from student codes of conduct, such as the definition of consent and the process by which it investigates.

Universities can provide other mechanisms for investigations in their interpretations of the law — a hearing panel, resources for victims or other safeguards.

As with much of Title IX, however, all of that is left up to interpretation.
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https://news.hjnews.com/education/usu-op-ed-tells-students-things-about-title-ix-law/article_1d137c07-9223-5645-9dab-7a9335ba7e87.html

USU op-ed tells students '10 things' about Title IX law

By Kevin Opsahl staff writer 8 hrs ago (0)

In a new op-ed, Utah State University’s Title IX coordinator told students what they can do in the event they experience sexual misconduct or if it happens to someone they know.

The piece, “10 Things to Know About Title IX” — referring to the federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender and sex — originally ran in The Utah Statesman, the student-run newspaper, and was recently published on the USU website.

“With stories about inappropriate sexual behavior dominating the news cycle over the last few months, it’s an opportune time to remind our campus community that Utah State University does not tolerate sexual harassment, sexual assault, stalking and dating violence,” Sturgeon wrote.

She noted that in a recent survey, 5 percent of USU students filed a complaint of sexual misconduct with the school’s Title IX office.

“There are likely many reasons for this, but I don’t want a lack of knowledge about Title IX to be one of them,” Sturgeon wrote.

Sturgeon said students reporting sexual misconduct to the Title IX office does not automatically trigger an investigation by the school. She said in most cases it is up to the student to decide whether USU should pursue that investigation, “unless there are safety concerns for the campus community.”

Sturgeon also said USU students will not be disciplined for drug or alcohol offenses if they make a report in good faith, whether they’re a victim of the alleged incident or a witness.

Sturgeon also made clear the Title IX office is not a law enforcement agency and students wishing to pursue a criminal case need to go to the police. Title IX and police investigations can be conducted at the same time, she said.

“If you report to USU Police, they will forward your report and information to me so that I can reach out with options for making a formal complaint through our office, as well as to talk with you about accommodations that could help lessen the impact of the incident on your academic studies,” Sturgeon wrote.

Asked about why she wrote the article, Sturgeon responded in an email to The Herald Journal that it was intended to “help break down barriers for coming to the office to learn about options.”

“The Op-Ed is intended to provide students with information about all options and to address some common barriers to reporting,” Sturgeon said.

Amanda DeRito, the school’s sexual misconduct information and outreach coordinator, said the op-ed came out after meetings she had with Sturgeon. The two of them recognized the impact of the #MeToo movement, which saw men and women open up about experiences with sexual misconduct and resulted in serious allegations against influential people.

“We had been talking about how a lot of people are feeling more confident coming forward across the nation — really, across the world — about things that have happened,” DeRito said. “We wanted to make sure if anyone needs to report or talk to someone or seek help that they know where to go.”

Allison Allred, a USU student who went public earlier this year with her story of being sexually assaulted off-campus, had both praise and criticism for Sturgeon’s op-ed.

“It’s good that the Title IX office is trying their best to reach out in the wake of all that has happened lately,” Allred wrote in an email to The Herald Journal.

Having said that, Allred felt Sturgeon’s statement was “kind of wordy.”

“Though the information may clear up some things for students, I don’t know how many of them will read it thoroughly in the first place,” she said.

DeRito talked about how much of a difference Sturgeon’s op-ed might make on students using university resources in the event they experience sexual misconduct.

“Combined with all of the outreach we’re doing, we’ve improved a lot of our website copy and made things really easy to access so that if students find themselves in a position where they need that information, it’s really easy to find,” she said.

Sturgeon’s op-ed comes as USU is under a “compliance review” and an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice regarding the university’s “response to numerous reports of student-on-student sexual assault.” USU’s student newspaper was the first to report those developments.

USU has for the last two years utilized a taskforce, chaired by USU President Noelle Cockett, finding new ways for the school to respond to and prevent sexual violence.
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