September 24, 2015 Re: Docket 07152270 b6;b7C On August 28, 2015, the US. Department of Education (Department), Of?ce for Civil Rights (OCR), received your complaint against the Kansas State University (University), Manhattan, Kansas, alleging failure to adequately respond to and investigate allegations of sexual violence, and retaliation. we have completed our evaluation of your complaint and determined we have the authority to investigate the complaint. we will address your allegations consistent with our complaint procedures and applicable law. Speci?cally, you alleged the University: 1. fails to and equitably respond to and investigate allegations of sexual violence of which it has notice; and 2. retaliated against you I OCR is responsible for enforcing Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX), 20 United States Code (U .S.C.) 1681, and its implementing regulation, 34 Code of Federal Regulations (C.F.R.) Part 106. Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any education program or activity operated by a recipient of Federal ?nancial assistance. As a recipient of Federal ?nancial assistance from the Department the University is subject to Title IX. Page 2 - 07152270 Because OCR has determined it has jurisdiction and that your complaint was ?led in a timely manner, it is opening your complaint for investigation. Please note that opening the complaint for investigation in no way implies that OCR has made a determination with regard to its merits. During the investigation, OCR is a neutral fact?finder, collecting and analyzing relevant evidence from the complainant, the recipient, and other sources, as appropriate. OCR will ensure that its investigation is legally sufficient and is dispositive of the allegations in your complaint, in accordance with the provisions of Article of Case Procem'ng 1Manua/.1 OCR offers, when appropriate, an Early Complaint Resolution (ECR) process to facilitate the voluntary resolution of complaints by providing an early opportunity for the parties involved to resolve the allegations. The OCR document entitled OCR Congo/aim Procem'zgg Procedures, which an OCR staff member emailed to you on September 3, 2015, includes information about ECR. In addition, when appropriate, a complaint may be resolved before the conclusion of an investigation after the recipient asks OCR to resolve the complaint. In such cases, a resolution agreement signed by the recipient and submitted to OCR must be aligned with the complaint allegations or the information obtained during the investigation and must be consistent with applicable regulations. Information about this resolution process was also explained in the document emailed to you on September 3, 2015. If not resolved through ECR or resolution before the conclusion of the investigation, OCR investigates the complaint allegations and makes a compliance determination. If OCR determines a recipient has not complied with a regulation enforced by OCR, OCR will attempt to negotiate a written agreement with the recipient in which the recipient commits to take specific steps to bring it into compliance with the applicable laws and regulations. will communicate with you periodically regarding the status of your complaint. As we notified you in our letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint, if you have additional information related to your complaint that you would like OCR to consider, you may submit the information to the staff person referenced below. Your submission may be in hard copy form photocopies of documents), or you may scan the information into an electronic format a PDF format). For instance, if you copy data or documents onto removable media, such as USB drives or CD DVD disks, this data may be submitted to OCR as an alternative to reproducing the information in a hard copy format. The Care l?mrem'qg Mamm/ is available on website at (WW3) - 07152270 Page 3 If you have any questions, please contact Anne Bradley, Attorney, at (816) 268-0582 (voice); (877) 521-2172 (telecommunications device for the deaf), or by email at anne.bradley@ecl.gov, or Glenn Grayson, Attorney, at (816)-268-0562 (voice) or by email at glenngrayson?ledgov. Sincerely, Joshua Douglass Chief Attorney (W6): CC: