Whig-Cliosophic Society holds sexual assault policy discussion

The American Whig-Cliosophic Society discussed various aspects of the University’s new sexual assault policy on Wednesday.

Wilson School professor Stanley Katz, whois an outspoken critic of the University’s decision in 2014to lower the evidence standardfor sexual assault cases,addressed the topic in a short talk at the beginning of the discussion.

Whig-Clio senate president Jack Reed ’16 explained that the event was intended to be an open conversation, rather than a lecture.

There were no representatives in support of the University's new standard of evidence at the discussion.

According to Katz, the administration sent the entire faculty an email at the beginning of this academic year indicating a possible change in the disciplinary procedure to address sexual assault cases on campus. The change was mandated by the Office of Civil Rights, based on a perceived violation of Title IX.

Before the change, the Office of theDean of Undergraduate Studentswould prepare the charges against a student who had been accused of an offense. The accused person then had the right to seek guidance from another member of the community, including a peer, faculty member or administrator.A formal hearing in front of the Committee on Discipline would then take place, and the accused would be able to make a statement. The Committee would ultimatelymake a judgment based on the hearing.

Under the new policy, however, a case will be investigated separately by specialists at hearings with lawyers present. The case will return to ODUSif the independent hearing is to find that an infraction has occurred.

Katz warned against the overly punitive nature of discipline at the University. He noted, for example, that the University tends to suspend students for two semesters rather than putting them on probation or suspending them for only one semester.

"[The disciplinary process is] one of the most serious social mechanisms [that] should always be used fairly,” Katz said.

At the same time, Katz said that he understands the University is under a lot of pressure, as it depends on federal funding for certain research, especially in the sciences. He noted that the Department of Education’s intervention into the matters of universities requires a lot of justification.

“The University should push back against that,” Katz said, “We should make clear that we won’t make changes that we don’t think are appropriate.”

With regard to the standard of evidence adopted by the University, Katz cited Section 2.5.1 of “Rights, Rules, Responsibilities,” where it says that all evidence presented must be clear and convincing.

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Katz said that this raises a lot of questions about whether such a standard is appropriate, or whether another measure - such as the Office of Civil Rights’ preponderance of evidence standard - would be preferable.

“Trying to protect students on campus, also trying to be fair to students, is a hard thing to do,” Katz said, “No system is completely fair. We need to try … getting it right as an internal matter.”

Sexual Harassment/Assault Advising, Resources& Educationpeer Josh Morrison ’17 was present and available throughout the discussion, to ensure students could speak with him in case they felt uncomfortable at any point due to the sensitive nature of the topic.

The event took place at 7 p.m.on Wednesday in the Whig Hall Senate Chamber.