Southwestern University Title IX Compliance Committee Report to the Community, March 3, 2015 Oh behalf of the entire Title IX Compliance Committee, I want to thank those who attended our meeting on Monday. As discussed in the March 1st email from the Title IX Compliance Committee, the Committee is a working group of administrative personnel with responsibility for Title IX and related areas. This includes sexual assault. The Title IX Compliance Committee is an internal functioning group not associated with the University’s governance structure, which is why there is not a reference to it on our website (except for the Title IX Coordinator and Deputy Coordinator). The existence of such a group is required by Title IX and has been in place since April, 2011. Based on comments shared during these past few weeks, including this past Friday’s Community Meeting, and Monday’s Title IX Compliance Committee meeting, here are its immediate action items: - - - - - As mentioned in the March 1st email from the Title IX Compliance Committee, the Sexual Assault Risk Reduction (“SARR”) Committee has been asked to begin to discuss and unpack the many ideas, suggestions and comments that were shared during last week’s forum and over the past few days. Their next meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, March 4, 2015 at 4:00 p.m. in Report Prothro 131. This is an open meeting and the Title IX Compliance Committee encourages students and other members of the campus community to attend and participate in this process. Request that SARR take initiative to explore and make recommendations about methods to reach more students and increase participation in meetings and programs related to sexual assault, rape, and sexual misconduct on an ongoing basis Begin a review of the fraternity and sorority event referred to as “Serenade” and take swift action to end any inappropriate sexual misconduct-related portions of the event Work with legal counsel to explore what other information, beyond the Clery Act disclosures, we may legally provide on a regular basis concerning investigations, outcomes/sanction, and locations Discontinue the use of comedy troupe based sexual assault programming during new student orientation The Title IX Compliance Committee will make a recommendation to the Committee Review Board to enhance the student membership on the Sexual Assault Risk Reduction (“SARR”) Committee and that students be asked to provide input to further detail the number of students, how they will be selected, and whether the role of the SARR might also be revised. A new link to this Committee’s webpage can now be found on the Title IX web page at http://www.southwestern.edu/titleix/sarr.php Closely examine the purposes and roles of the SARR and the Sexual Harassment and Misconduct Advisory Committee within the University’s official governance structure, recommend revisions as needed, and then educate and communicate with all campus constituencies In the near term (through the end of this academic year and into the 2015/2016 academic year), the following items will be addressed by the Title IX Compliance Committee: - - - - The Title IX Compliance Committee will re-engage with the Texas Association Against Sexual Assault (“TAASA”) to re-review the University’s current policies, procedures and practices (TAASA conducted a review in 2012). This will be a comprehensive review, including attention to sanctions under the student judiciary process Consider whether an outside community mediator/facilitator could be helpful for future community meetings/forums, with an eye toward ensuring productive, legal discussions Review all sexual misconduct, sexual assault, and rape education programming with a focus on delivering more sexual assault/rape specific programs throughout the standard four-year enrollment period; make program information easier to find; and, partner more deliberately with students in leadership roles or who are otherwise engaged in sexual assault/rape education to find ways to reach and encourage more students to participate Improve education and awareness about the current avenues for reporting allegations of sexual misconduct, with particular attention to the differences between the “criminal” route and the “internal student judicial” route. Student engagement in this effort will be key to its success The Title IX Compliance Committee will meet more frequently (as a working group) for the rest of this academic year and will continue to provide updates once each semester, or more frequently if needed, to the community about its work/progress. These updates will be posted to the newly created webpage with a navigation link from the Title IX Home Page for the Title IX Compliance Committeehttp://www.southwestern.edu/titleix/committee/ . Although some of this was included in the March 1st email, here are some upcoming meetings and events, more items have been added (please see Campus Notices for times and location): - - - - SARR meeting (open), March 4th, 4:00 p.m. in Prothro 131 Presentation by Jake Byczkowski, Solo Cup Culture, March 4th, Alma Thomas, 8:00 p.m. Alcohol Awareness Education, delayed due to weather from March 3rd to week of March 9th Women’s Lacrosse game, gator board and information on issues related to sexual assault, March 10th Sexual Assault and Campus Climate Survey developed by the Higher Education Data Sharing (HEDS) consortium. The online survey will be administered to all SU students and will run from March 19th to April 9th - please plan to participate – it is anonymous and provides campus and community resources for individuals impacted by sexual assault or relationship violence. Additional information about the survey can be found here at the HEDS website Bystander Intervention Training by Maria Pena, to be scheduled after Spring Break Student Congress “last STRAW” week (sexual targeting risk awareness), March 23rd – 27th which will be concluded with a workshop by Ebony Stewart March 27th at 4:00 p.m. in Olin 111 “Take Back the Night” event in April (details to be announced) “Haven” training requirement for all returning students planning to live on campus beginning 2015-2016 (briefly, the course covers elements of healthy relationships, being a good communicator, understanding and reporting sexual assault, the importance of sexual consent, and the role of bystanders in creating safe, health communities) Megaphone, Public Service Announcement will continue to be placed in every issue We have developed a new navigation link from the Title IX Home Page for the Title IX Compliance Committee http://www.southwestern.edu/titleix/committee/. All future reports/communications will be posted to this site. We encourage your interest and participation in as many of these important meetings and programs as you can attend. Thank you. Elma Benavides Associate Vice President for Human Resources Title IX Coordinator