6 Mass. institutions on list of schools under Title IX sex abuse investigations

WASHINGTON, D.C. (MyFoxBoston.com) -- Six Massachusetts institutions were on a list released by the U.S. Department of Education Thursday of 55 colleges and universities facing Title IX sex abuse investigations.

The Massachusetts schools on the list include Amherst College, Boston University, Emerson College, Harvard College, Harvard University—Law School and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

"We are making this list available in an effort to bring more transparency to our enforcement work and to foster better public awareness of civil rights," Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon said. "We hope this increased transparency will spur community dialogue about this important issue. I also want to make it clear that a college or university's appearance on this list and being the subject of a Title IX investigation in no way indicates at this stage that the college or university is violating or has violated the law."

The Department of Education did not release any details related to the investigations. However, they note the list includes probes that began due to complaints received by the Office for Civil Rights and those initiated by the office as compliance reviews. Further information would not be released until the conclusion of the investigations.

The release of the list coincides with a goal set forth by President Barack Obama's White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault. The task force aims to bring more transparency to the government's enforcement activities around this issue.

Click here to read the full statements from each college or university being investigated in Massachusetts.

"The inclusion of the University of Massachusetts Amherst in a list released today by the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault is related to a standard compliance review. The university is not the subject of a Title IX complaint," said UMass Amherst officials via a press release Thursday.

The release goes on to say that a review began in June 30, 2011 and no conclusions have been reached. University officials say they fully support the task force's work and that OCR regularly conducts compliance reviews under Title IX.

Harvard University provided a statement that applied to the undergraduate college and the law school.

"Harvard, as a University and as a community, continues to take the issue of sexual harassment and sexual violence extremely seriously.  In that context, Harvard has taken a number of steps to foster prevention efforts and to support students who have experienced sexual misconduct," the statement read in part.

The statement goes on to list some of the efforts Harvard has made, including hiring a Title IX officer last spring, and forming a university-wide task force that will assess how the school can better prevent sexual misconduct.

Harvard has formally submitted its policies and procedures for review to OCR in recent weeks, the statement read, and "after any OCR feedback is received, Harvard will move quickly to announce and implement them." 

In Boston University's case, OCR is investigating a single complaint against the school made last October, according to a statement from the university.

"While we believe the University provided the student with a prompt and equitable resolution of the complaint in full accordance with the requirements of Title IX, we are cooperating fully with OCR in its investigation and are always open to improving the manner in which we respond to any incident of sexual misconduct reported to us," the statement read.

Emerson College stated that while administrators could not comment on specific cases, [if gte mso 9]>
The college has also hired someone to be a director of violence prevention and sexual assault response advocate, as well as hired an outside consulting firm to review Emerson's Title IX policies, the statement read. The statement also explained that the college has strengthened educational and training programs and revised survivors' resource materials.

Amherst College stated that "In the fall of 2012, a group of articulate and courageous students disclosed a range of problems in the College's previous efforts to prevent and respond to incidents of sexual misconduct. Since then, we have made important changes and will continue to do so."

Some of these changes include the addition of new staff in the counseling center, a "Sexual Respect Educator," as well as a Title IX Coordinator. The college has also added new educational programs and changed the adjudication process for sexual assaults and harassment.

Earlier this week, the Department of Education updated their guidelines to describe the responsibility of schools that receive federal funds to address sexual violence and other forms of sexual discrimination under the Title IX law.

Other institutions on the list:
 
 
AZ
 
Arizona State University

CA
 
Butte-Glen Community College District

Occidental College

University of California-Berkeley

University of Southern California

CO
 
Regis University

University of Colorado at Boulder

University of Colorado at Denver

University of Denver
 
CT
 
University of Connecticut

DC
 
Catholic University of America

FL
 
Florida State University
 
GA
 
Emory University
 
HI
 
University of Hawaii at Manoa

ID
 
University of Idaho

IL
 
Knox College

University of Chicago

IN
 
Indiana University-Bloomington

Vincennes University

MD
 
Frostburg State University

 
MI
 
Michigan State University

University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
 
NC
 
Guilford College

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

ND
 
Minot State University
 
NH
 
Dartmouth College

NJ
 
Princeton University
 
NY
 
Cuny Hunter College

Hobart and William Smith Colleges

Sarah Lawrence College
 
Suny at Binghamton
 
OH
 
Denison University
 
Ohio State University

Wittenberg University
 
OK
 
Oklahoma State University
 
PA
 
Carnegie Mellon University

Franklin and Marshall College
 
Pennsylvania State University

Swarthmore College

Temple University
 
TN
 
Vanderbilt University

TX
 
Southern Methodist University

The University of Texas-Pan American

VA
 
College of William and Mary

University of Virginia

WA
 
Washington State University

WI
 
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

WV
 
Bethany College

West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine

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