Obama administration releases sexual assault guidelines

President Barack Obama’s administration thinks that colleges don’t fully understand their… President Barack Obama’s administration thinks that colleges don’t fully understand their obligations for investigating sexual misconduct and released what amounted to a reminder on the subject yesterday.

Secretary of Education Arne Duncan introduced guidelines during a conference call with reporters yesteday afternoon. Arne was joined on the call by Russlynn Ali, who serves as the U.S. Department of Education’s assistant secretary for civil rights.

Together the pair discussed the legal obligations educational institutions face under federal Title IX anti-discrimination policies and how those policies apply to sex and gender issues. Duncan and Ali stressed that the guidelines released yesterday do not involve a change in Title IX legislation, but are instead an attempt to help educational institutions get clearer understandings of their duties when it comes to on-campus sexual assaults.

“Every school would like to believe it is immune from sexual violence, but the facts suggest otherwise,” Duncan said during the call. “Our first goal is prevention through education. Information is always the best way to combat sexual violence.”

Here at Pitt, sexual misconduct is mentioned numerous times throughout the Student Code of Conduct, including a direct reference in the University’s anti-discrimination policy statement. According to the code of conduct, the University “prohibits and will not engage in discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, sex, age, marital status, familial status, sexual orientation, disability or status as a disabled veteran or veteran of the Vietnam era.”

Schools across the country have similar policies. Still, Duncan and Ali said that a number of misconceptions exist among colleges and universities when it comes to Title IX legislation.

“For instance, there is a misconception out there that a school has to wait until a criminal investigation is completed before they can launch an investigation of their own,” Duncan said. “That’s simply not the case.”

Some of the guidelines address the complicated nature of some sexual assault cases, such as those in which a student or his or her parent does not want to file a complaint with police or does not request that the school take any action on the student’s behalf.

Under Title IX, if a school knows or reasonably should know about possible sexual harassment or sexual violence, it must promptly investigate to determine what occurred and take appropriate steps to resolve the situation, even if a student does not want to press charges.

The guidelines also stress that a criminal investigation into allegations of sexual harassment or sexual violence does not relieve the school of its duty under Title IX to resolve complaints promptly and equitably.

“Schools are often in the best position to prevent sexual violence and to respond to it promptly and effectively if it occurs,” Ali said. “These guidelines offer another tool in the fight against the harmful effects of sexual violence by providing technical assistance and seeking remedies designed to stop such conduct, prevent its recurrence and remediate its impact.”

The guidelines’ release comes about a week after the federal government launched a highly publicized investigation into incidents on Yale University’s campus. The incidents — which according to the Yale Daily News involved a “naked party” that was hosted by a campus social group and several allegations of discriminatory behavior by campus fraternities — raised questions about the obligations faced by schools dealing with complaints of sexual abuse.

Under Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, colleges and universities are prohibited from engaging in discrimination on the basis of sex in any federally funded education program or activity. Schools are also required to respond “promptly and effectively” to allegations of sexual assault.

Duncan and Ali both said the new guidelines — which will be sent to all high schools, colleges and universities that receive federal funding — were not drafted in response to incidents at Yale or any other specific institutions. Rather, they pointed to a number of statistics released in the past few years by the National Institute of Justice and other sources as the basis for the new guidelines.

Duncan specifically mentioned a 2007 National Institute of Justice study that found that as many as one in five women is the victim of complete or attempted sexual assault by the time they graduate college. The report also found that 6.1 percent of men are victims of completed or attempted sexual assault during college.

The National Institute of Justice is a federally funded organization that seeks to illuminate social and civil rights issues using science, according to its website.