UT stepping up efforts to address handling of sex misconduct claims
The University of Texas at Austin announced steps Wednesday aimed at restructuring how it handles sexual assault and misconduct complaints after months in which students have raised concerns about alleged misconduct by university employees.
The flagship campus will centralize how such claims are investigated, processed and judged; enhance the delivery of support and resources for those affected by such behavior; and increase the duties and resources for the university’s Title IX coordinator, Interim President Jay Hartzell said in a letter to the community.
U.S. Education Secretary Betsy Devos this year issued revised rules for how campuses should handle sexual misconduct allegations under Title IX, the 1972 law barring gender discrimination, including sexual assault, on college campuses and in primary and secondary schools.
She deemed sexual harassment and assault, interpersonal violence, stalking and sexual exploitation to be “sex discrimination.”
UT also plans to create a restorative justice program that will work to address equity and inclusion issues and will engage accusers and alleged perpetrators in meetings if agreed upon by both parties.
“All of this work reflects the university’s commitment to combating sex discrimination and making significant improvements to our practices and policies for the benefit of all members of our campus community,” Hartzell wrote.
The changes will be implemented before the fall semester and are based on a second review and recommendations made by the Kansas City-based law firm Husch Blackwell.
UT-Austin officials hired Husch Blackwell to review and revise UT’s policies on sex discrimination and its Title IX regulations earlier this year.
Then-President Greg Genves accepted the firm’s first round of recommendations in March, which included clarifying policies, requiring mandatory training for university employees, improving timelines for resolving sex discrimination investigations, consulting experts to establish the restorative justice program, and creating an office where students affected by sex discrimination can access support and resources.
The university also agreed to publicize instances of employee misconduct if they are not terminated “because of mitigating factors,” while maintaining survivors’ privacy.
Tasnim Islam, a student organizer and rising junior at UT, said in a written statement that she was bewildered by Hartzell’s recent announcement — but called it motivation to “keep fighting for all the changes that need to happen at the university.”
Islam also stressed the recent announcement was made possible by years of student activism.
In a January report triggered by protests and students’ concerns, UT revealed that 17 employees — three professors and 14 staffers — engaged in misconduct over a 26-month period such as unwelcome physical contact, comments of a sexual nature, stalking and the failure to report consensual relations with a student or subordinate employee. Nine of the employees were fired or forced out.
The report’s release followed an investigation into allegations of sexual misconduct conducted by UT’s Office for Inclusion and Equity. The report included summary findings for each case, all of which occurred between November 2017 and December 2019.
“It took a lot of underground research, protests, and pressure from the press for the university to finally take some damn action. It is tiring. However, we know what works now,” Islam said. “We know what we have to do to demand the necessary changes for our survival at this institution.”
Still, Islam said she has more questions. She wants to know who will be in charge of the restructuring and launching new programs. She’s curious about the timeline for the changes, and she wants to know whether the university will give students the chance to be involved.
“Will they let us into the room and take our input seriously?” Islam said. “There may be another fight ahead of us regarding the implementation of these new
Shelby Hobohm, a rising senior at UT, said in a written statement that seeing the “restorative justice” program listed as a top priority gave her chills and felt like an accomplishment — especially since she and other students stressed the need for such an initiative.
“I still don’t really understand why they spent so much money on outside consultants who ended up telling them the same thing that we as students had been telling them for months (and really years). That money could have gone towards funding some of these initiatives much sooner.” Hobohm said.
She added that student activists’ work on campus won’t stop. They want to see the university keep its promises and see all the announced initiatives come into fruition.
“Sexual violence and harassment won’t be solved just through new rules, and aren’t issues that are separate from other forms of discrimination and inequity such as racism,” Hobohm said. “We are ready to keep working, as long as it takes.” recommendations.”