Conflict and distrust between activists and the administration threaten Occidental College’s ability to improve how it handles sexual assault, according to a new report.
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Conflict and distrust between activists and the administration threaten Occidental College’s ability to improve how it handles sexual assault, according to a new report.
The Los Angeles Times reports that the 130-page audit, sponsored by the institution’s president, Jonathan Veitch, cites at least 45 steps Occidental has taken to improve its procedures for handling reports of sexual assault.
But Caroline Heldman, an associate professor of politics and a prominent activist, dismissed the report’s objectivity, saying it had been “commissioned and paid for by President Veitch to spin his mishandling of sexual-assault issues” at the college. Mr. Veitch said in a statement that the report “represents another step in our continuing work to enhance our response to sexual misconduct.”
The gulf between the responses illustrates a central contention of the report—that “stark polarization” surrounding the issue could hurt further improvements by the college. It cites instances in which people at Occidental feared “ostracism and retaliation” from either administrators or activists.
