Princeton has been found in violation of Title IX regulations, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced on Wednesday morning.
The resolution puts an end to three separate complaints filed by three different students against the University regarding incidents that occurred between 2009 and 2011. As a result, OCR has entered into an agreement with the University to resolve the University’s non-compliance with Title IX regulations.
While those found out of compliance with Title IX could lose all sources of federal funding as a penalty, the release does not describe any monetary sanctions.
Most notably, the University has agreed to reexamine all cases of sexual assault filed within the past three academic years and address any problems it may find, according to a copy of the 22-page letter sent by OCR to the University. In addition, it will provide remedies related to “educational and other” expenses that complainants may have incurred from the date on which they first reported sexual violence to the date of resolution.
Michele Minter, the University’s Title IX coordinator and vice provost for institutional equity and diversity, said Wednesday that she was away from the office and could not comment.
The federal office concluded that, overall, the University failed to adequately respond to sexual violence complaints, including complaints of sexual assault. In one particular case, the University failed to eliminate a sexually hostile environment for one student by taking too long to implement a no-contact order in favor of the complainant.
“The University did not implement a NCO until eleven months after [the student] filed her complaint,” OCR’s letter read. “The evidence supports that [the complainant] did not agree to a NCO earlier, at least in part, because the University did not inform her of [the accused’s] appeal and enrollment status at the University.”
Many of the new policies implemented by the University this summer as part of an overhaul of its procedures for cases of sexual assault preemptively solved some of the issues the OCR found in its investigations. The University has openly acknowledged that it was pressured by the federal government to adopt these changes. These new policies include mainly lowering the standard of evidence to “preponderance” rather than “clear and persuasive,” giving both complainants and accused the right to appeal and phasing out an adjudicatory committee made of students and faculty, replacing it with a panel of three professional investigators.
For example, OCR concluded in all three cases that the University had been in violation of Title IX because it had used the “clear and persuasive” standard, even if it did not disagree with the outcome of the investigation itself.
The letter also described the interaction between University’s internal disciplinary procedures, the Department of Public Safety and the Princeton Police Department. DPS officers will not usually investigate cases of sexual assault, instead typically deferring to administrative deans. In the case of the police, the University told OCR that the police will “rarely will share information with … the University because of concerns that this will interfere with the criminal investigation.”
In response, University President Christopher Eisgruber ’83 said in a statement that the agreement confirms the University’s commitment to address matters of sexual misconduct in a fair and effective way as well as the University’s mission to create a climate on campus that promotes prevention, support, safety and freedom from discrimination.In particular, the University has committed to providing a comprehensive education program on its policies, conducting annual climate checks with students to assess the success of the University’s new measures and making annual reports to OCR on its handling of sexual assault and violence allegations.
Confusions: two policy documents
The OCR’s investigation concluded that the University’s guidelines for responding to assaults and violence did not comply with Title IX regulations, because two documents detailing its policies did not articulate them clearly to students and employees.
These documents “each contained incomplete information describing the process for addressing sex discrimination, sexual harassment, and/or sexual misconduct complaints,” the OCR told the University in a letter dated Tuesday. In addition, the agency determined that since these two documents did not clearly reference each other, the policy was confusing and difficult to find.
Specifically, OCR noted that “Rights, Rules, Responsibilities” — the main policy document distributed to students — lacked information on how to file a complaint of sexual misconduct, as well as on the details of the investigation process.
Although the General Policy — a second policy document — said the University would "make an effort" to resolve complaints within 45 working days, OCR noted that the General Policy lacked a timeframe for appeals, while “Rights, Rules, Responsibilities” lacked timeframes for both complaint resolution and appeals.
In addition, OCR found that since “Rights, Rules, Responsibilities” stated that student disciplinary procedures are only invoked when a complaint of sexual misconduct is against a current University student, students could be discouraged from filing complaints against former students. While the University may not be able to take disciplinary action in those actions, OCR said it still had to meet its Title IX obligations by providing support for the complainant and taking steps to end the prohibited behavior, prevent its recurrence and address its effects.
Neither policy document explicitly provided the complainant with an equal opportunity as the accused party to present witnesses and other evidence, as required under Title IX, according to the Department of Education's press release on their determination. While supplementary sets of documents from the University mentioned these rights, the main documents on sexual harassment procedures did not directly reference them.
The press release also noted that the University has complied with Title IX by designating and providing notice of its Title IX coordinator. OCR said the University notified students and employees of the name, office address and telephone number of Minter, the Title IX coordinator.
The University will also take steps to improve communication and coordination with local law enforcement agencies, specifically with regard to sexual violence.
While implementing the resolution agreement, OCR plans to review the revised policies to ensure compliance with Title IX. The expected completion date of the process is Dec. 7.
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