October 10, 2017 The Honorable Ellen Rosenblum State of Oregon Attorney General Oregon Department of Justice 1162 Court Street, NE Salem OR 97301-4096 RE: Oregon Public Universities’ Enforcement of Title IX Dear Attorney General Rosenblum: As leaders of Oregon’s public universities, we would like to take the opportunity to address the recent changes the federal Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights (OCR) has taken regarding Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 (Title IX). In the past decade, a great deal of progress has been made by Oregon’s institutions of higher education in firmly taking a stand against sexual violence, while providing an equitable complaint process. The Title IX Coordinators on all campuses have made incredible efforts in this regard, including providing meaningful prevention programing, increasing the resources and staffing for prevention and response to sexual harassment/violence, and reformation of our outreach, support and adjudication processes. The resulting, promising practices have led Oregon to be at the forefront of Title IX efforts nationwide. We understand that the recent decision by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos to rescind the 2011 Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) and the 2014 FAQ documents related to Title IX has caused some concern. As was clearly stated in recent statements to our university communities, the new federal guidelines in no way erode our resolve to work to eradicate sexual violence on our campuses and to provide services to survivors, as well as be fair and equitable to all, including those accused, in our complaint processes. Title IX Coordinators have unique roles, as they are charged with coordinating and implementing the many overlapping federal and state regulations, as well as the changing guidance from the federal and state courts. We wish to reinforce our commitment to upholding current practices, and encourage your office to assist us in our efforts by refraining from state action at this time. First, we were glad to see that the OCR’s interim Title IX guidance currently provides universities with flexibility in continuing our efforts to educate students about campus sexual assault, intimate partner violence, stalking and sexual harassment; in how we investigate those incidents; and how we honor and protect the rights of all parties involved. Importantly, the guidance does not require us to change our processes or procedures in significant ways. Oregon’s public universities have 1 applied the preponderance of the evidence standard for years prior to the federal guidance, and we do not intend to change. Second, the majority of the protections for survivors of sexual harassment and violence were contained in the Violence Against Women Act/Campus SaVE amendments to Clery (“VAWA”) and the 1997 and 2001 guidance from the OCR. The rescission of the 2011 and 2014 OCR documents has little effect on the vast majority of the requirements previously set forth - for prevention education, training of employees, providing information and resources to victims and survivors, employing procedurally fair and equitable conduct and grievance processes; all of these come from VAWA and earlier guidance from OCR. As a result, we believe that the new guidance will have very little, if any, impact on our current policies and procedures related to Title IX. We remain as committed as ever to the goal of minimizing sexual violence and harassment. We will continue to investigate complaints of sexual violence in a fair, equitable and neutral manner, which includes respecting the rights of and providing support to all parties involved. The Oregon public universities will be providing comments to the Department of Education to stress the importance of maintaining educational institutions’ ability to provide support to survivors and address sexual violence in a fair and equitable manner. Collectively Oregon’s public universities encourage your office to wait and see what Secretary DeVos’ proposed rulemaking process will bring prior to taking action at the state level that could create further confusion. Thank you for the opportunity to share our thoughts with you. Sincerely, Thomas Insko President Eastern Oregon University Edward Ray President Oregon State University Rahmat Shoureshi President Portland State University Michael Schill President University of Oregon Linda Schott President Southern Oregon University Rex Fuller President Western Oregon University 2 Nagi Naganathan President Oregon Institute of Technology Colleen Dunne-Cascio Title IX Coordinator/ Director of Student Relations Eastern Oregon University Joe Robertson President Oregon Health & Science University Suzette J. Yaezenko Chief Human Resources & Civil Rights Officer Oregon Institute of Technology Kim Kirkland Exec. Director EO/ Title IX Coordinator Oregon State University Julie Caron, J.D. Assoc. Vice President, Global Diversity & Inclusion, Title IX & ADA/504 Coordinator Portland State University Marjorie Trueblood-Gamble Director of Diversity & Inclusion/Title IX Coordinator Southern Oregon University Darci V. Heroy, J.D./M.A Assoc. Vice President/Title IX Coordinator University of Oregon Judy Vanderburg Director of Human Resources & Office of Affirmative Action/Title IX Coordinator Western Oregon University Laura Stadum, J.D. Interim Associate Director, Title IX Coordinator Oregon Health & Science University 3