A chance for change: Title IX at Duke

Last month the public because aware of a student’s Title IX complaint filed against Duke. The opened federal investigation will “review handling of sexual misconduct and harassment complaints involving students, faculty and staff.” While reports of the opened investigation relate three high profile cases of sexual assault at Duke in the past year, there is no way to surmise what case, known or unknown, generated the complaint.

We need to take this investigation seriously rather than dismissing it as perfunctory. Many correctly write off Title IX complaints as unlikely to produce change. Nearly half of complaints do not result in investigations by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. Only 22 percent of 801 complaints resulted in completed investigations or institutional changes. A further 61 percent failed to result in any OCR investigation, one-third of those being “administratively closed” which often means private, mediated resolutions.

While we do see the larger context of how attitudes towards women and sexual assault have improved over decades, we cannot ignore the opportunity for change amidst statistics about the percentage of college women experiencing sexually assault. When OCR resolutions are finally reached, recommendations are often predictable, and we urge students, faculty and staff to push for change ahead of the curve.

First, students want real data about what sexual assault and harassment look like at Duke. Annual campus climate surveys and exit surveys of undergraduate and graduate students would publicize our campus’s experiences. Similar surveys for faculty and staff would alleviate concerns highlighted in the faculty Task Force on Diversity’s report about appropriate management of complaints. Only by making these results freely available to Duke’s faculty and student communities can accountability be achieved.

Second, we hope to see reinforcement of our culture of student accountability. Training for bystander intervention and reporting incidents ought to continue, particularly as a key take-away of Orientation Week. Training graduate students, faculty and staff is also vital as misconduct certainly occurs outside of Shooters and campus parties. Clarification is additionally needed to boost correct reporting of incidents, especially when witnesses face the question of who to actually report to. Students need to know what is right and have confidence that the highest standards of professionalism are used for these sensitive cases.

Complainants should be encouraged to take steps to preserve evidence by obtaining a Sexual Assault Nurse Examination at the Duke Hospital Emergency Department. The option of filing a blind police report where complainants provide a statement to police but withhold their personal information until they choose to proceed should also be encouraged to ease working with police. Lastly, students should be clearly informed of their right to file a complaint if they experience retaliation following reporting. These steps build confidence in the process.

Finally, we hope that an honest conversation can be had about the appropriate role of universities in adjudicating these cases. Colleges can certainly support victims, but the involvement of universities must not absolve the criminal justice system of its responsibility to improve its police practices. That said, the potential for a university’s own conflicts of interest needs to be be carefully considered. Public perception of overly strict disciplinary proceedings and retraumatizing victims certainly affect university choices in designing and executing policies.

The issue of handling sexual misconduct on college campuses is complicated, and no single law or university policy offers the solution. But iteratively and through constant feedback, we hope to see progress made more proactively to prevent these tragic crimes.