A settlement announced on Thursday between the federal government and the University of Montana at Missoula over reports of sexual assault denounces the institution’s handling of the issue, recognizing recent progress but requiring much more. The agreements reached in the case, with both the university and its public-safety department, could guide compliance efforts at colleges nationally.
For the last year and a half, Montana has been under scrutiny for its response to sexual misconduct. Reports in the fall of 2011 that two female students had been sexually assaulted, allegedly by football players, prompted the university to hire a former state Supreme Court justice to investigate. The following spring, as the university system’s Board of Regents announced an investigation of several further complaints, the U.S. Departments of Justice and Education began formal reviews under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972—civil-rights statutes that prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex.
In an unusual collaboration between federal agencies, officials with the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights report having found a tangle of misguided policies and biased procedures at Montana’s flagship campus.
A letter from the two agencies to the university’s president and counsel cites problems such as “inconsistent and inadequate” definitions of sexual harassment; a student population unaware of or confused about how to report sexual misconduct; and a lengthy grievance process focusing on the accused perpetrator’s due-process rights while largely ignoring the rights of the alleged victim.
The investigation examined 23 reports of sexual assault and 10 of sexual harassment over a span of three academic years, beginning in 2009-10. During that time, the letter says, administrators handling the cases were insufficiently trained and neither protected students who had come forward from retaliation nor gave them a chance to avoid contact with their alleged attackers by changing their classes or campus residences.
One student’s complaint took almost a year to resolve, according to federal officials. The university dropped two other cases, they say, because administrators “assumed the victims had stopped cooperating.” In another case, a student reported an assault to police officers, and although they informed a university employee, an investigation began a year later, only “when those involved in the Title IX grievance process learned of the incident through the media.”
‘On Our Way’
Despite sharp criticism, the documents released by federal officials on Thursday acknowledge Montana’s recent efforts to keep students safe in compliance with federal law. In early 2012, for instance, the university began holding forums on preventing sexual assault and brought the national advocacy group Men Can Stop Rape to the campus. Also during that time, the university fired its football coach and athletic director, although it never specifically said their dismissals had been related to the allegations against football players.
That summer, Montana introduced a mandatory online training program for students covering the definitions of sexual assault and consent, as well as tips on bystander intervention and resources for victims.
“Though the university implemented several individual remedies over the three-year period and initiated some campuswide remedial measures in 2012,” federal officials wrote in their letter, “these steps had not fully eliminated the effects of the hostile environment by the end of our investigation.”
Under the settlement, the agreements with the university generally and its Office of Public Safety specifically set forth many requirements on a strict timetable. Federal officials expect progress—and reports on that progress—throughout the summer and fall, and into 2015.
Among other measures, the university must hire an “equity consultant”; revise and widely distribute its policies and procedures; provide Title IX training to all faculty and staff members; develop a confidential tracking system for reports of sexual misconduct; create a “resource guide” for students; and conduct focus groups and annual climate surveys to assess students’ familiarity and comfort with the grievance process.
“These agreements provide a blueprint for colleges and universities across the country to take effective steps to prevent and address sexual assault and harassment on their campuses,” Jocelyn Samuels, principal assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department, said in a written statement. “We applaud the university for its cooperation and for taking the steps necessary to maintain a safe learning environment for all students.”
Royce C. Engstrom, president of the university, committed to further change. “We have done much work these past months,” he said in a written statement, citing the presence of three “top-notch experts” to guide efforts, as well as a new police officer to focus on personal safety and community building.
“Not only are we moving toward full compliance, but we are also doing the right thing by ensuring respectful and thoughtful approaches to address allegations of sexual harassment and assault,” Mr. Engstrom said. “I want this university to emerge as an institution that recognized a problem and came out as a national leader in addressing that problem. We are on our way.”
Strict Oversight
Federal enforcement of Title IX has grown tougher since 2011, when the Education Department released a forceful “Dear Colleague” letter prescribing how colleges must handle reports of sexual misconduct. Last year the department was actively reviewing approximately three dozen institutions and reached a comprehensive resolution agreement with Yale University. The department is now investigating high-profile complaints at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and at Occidental College.
The involvement of the Justice Department in the Montana case may stem from the simultaneous investigation of the public-safety department, as well as the City of Missoula Police Department and the Office of the Missoula County Attorney. (The latter two investigations are still under way.)
Still, Justice Department officials had a strong message for colleges on Thursday. “Institutions of higher learning across the country must be absolutely tireless in their determination to fully and effectively respond to reports of sexual assault and sexual harassment on their campuses,” Roy L. Austin Jr., deputy assistant attorney general for the Civil Rights Division, said at a news conference.
An important part of that response involves campus officers, for whom the Justice Department laid out extensive requirements. Under its agreement, the University of Montana’s Office of Public Safety must “develop a detailed and victim-centered sexual-assault response policy,” regularly train officers on that policy, establish close oversight of sexual-assault investigations, enhance data collection, and strengthen communication with law-enforcement partners.
Scrutiny of the University of Montana will continue for a while. The public-safety agreement requires a safety and accountability audit, an independent reviewer to monitor progress, and an external review team of sexual-assault experts and advocates to ensure consistency. Under the agreement with the university, it must provide a series of follow-up reports, including proof of its new policies; summaries of all reports of sexual misconduct and the ensuing cases; and even, for training sessions, sign-in sheets for each employee.
