One evening in October 2010, Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity pledges at Yale University were blindfolded, parading around the university’s picturesque Old Campus. Their chants were clear.
“No means yes. Yes means anal!”
In the wake of a media firestorm, Yale students and alumni filed a Title IX complaint against the university, which concluded in 2012 with the government finding that Yale complied with existing law. The U.S. Department of Education fined Yale $165,000 last year for failing to report four forcible sex offenses in 2001 and 2002, the result of a seven-year Clery Act investigation that concluded in 2011.
The federal Office for Civil Rights began investigating Dartmouth in 2013 for Title IX violations, the same year that students and alumni filed a Clery Act complaint, though College spokesperson Justin Anderson said that the College has received no official notice that it is under Clery investigation.
The schools are not anomalies in Ivy League. Most recently, 23 students at Columbia University filed a federal complaint in April that alleges violations of Title IX, Title II and the Clery Act by the university, although no investigation has officially commenced.
The Department of Education is investigating Harvard University and Princeton University for Title IX violations. The department announced on May 1 that 55 institutions are currently under investigation for Title IX violations.
Under a Title IX investigation, the government determines whether schools are compliant with federal law barring gender-based discrimination. The 2011 “Dear Colleague” letter issued by the Department of Education clarified institutions’ obligations under Title IX.
The Clery Act requires that schools publish select campus crime statistics, including the amount of sexual assaults reported.
Federal Investigations Around the Ivy League
As the only Ivy League institution with completed Clery Act and Title IX investigations, Yale’s experience merits special attention.
After news spread about DKE’s chants, Yale prohibited DKE from holding any campus event and from using the College’s email or bulletin boards to communicate with the student body, the New York Times reported in 2011.
Kate Orazem, a complainant, said in a 2012 Yale Daily News article that the incident was the “final straw” that drove 16 Yale students and alumni to file a Title IX complaint.
For years, the students said Yale had failed to respond sufficiently quickly or strictly to sexual misconduct cases, and after consulting with a Harvard Law School professor, they decided to file the complaint, according to the article. The fraternity’s chants began to symbolize Yale’s weaknesses, Orazem said to the Yale Daily News.
In response to the complaints, Yale launched a raft of new programs and expedited preexisting campus projects. Following recommendations issued by Yale’s Advisory Committee on Campus Climate, Yale bolstered sexual misconduct training for administrators and increased the scope of its sexual harassment response and education center.
Yale also overhauled freshman orientation, instituted mandatory instruction for student organizations’ leaders and committed to conducting regular assessments on sexual misconduct, discrimination and Title IX on campus.
In early May, Yale announced it would conduct a quantitative campus sexual assault survey next year, Yale Alumni Magazine reported.
Sandra Park, staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union’s Women’s Rights project, said Yale will receive extra federal scrutiny as a result of the investigation.
Since the conclusion of the investigations, Yale has improved its mechanisms for addressing sexual assault on campus, several Yale students said.
In fall 2011, Yale implemented a new program that tasks peer advisors with educating students about sexual health and violence. Although the recommendation to create the program was issued before the Title IX complaint was filed, administrators said in 2011 that the Title IX complaint accelerated new campus programming.
Yale sophomore Corey Malone-Smolla, a peer advisor, said two new workshops have arisen from the Title IX investigation.
“It’s good that we’re getting criticism and constantly under watch because it means that the student body is always keeping the administration in check,” she said.
While at other schools the topic of sexual assault might still be considered a taboo, Yale embraces conversations about sexual assault, Eli Feldman, a Yale sophomore, said. A number of groups have pledged to discuss ways to improve Yale’s handling of sexual assault cases, he said.
Malone-Smolla said that discussions have even expanded to students who are not “necessarily involved in these circles.”
“I would say it’s a very open dialogue,” Malone-Smolla said. “Anything that was taboo isn’t really taboo anymore.”
The Title IX investigation also prompted increased transparency, Yale sophomore and community health educator Katherine Garvey said, citing Yale’s campus-wide emails that document sexual assault reports.
But even after the conclusion of the Title IX investigation, some students still say sexual assault remains mishandled on campus. Responding to the most recent semi-annual report the school released in February, a student group called Students Against Sexual Violence at Yale released an open letter criticizing Yale’s handling of sexual assault reports. The open letter consisted of policy recommendations, including establishing an explicit preferred sanction of expulsion for those found guilty of sexual assault, hiring an external victim’s advocate for survivors, placing student who are survivors on committees related to sexual assault and instituting mandatory disciplinary hearings for students reported for sexual assault more than once, regardless of if the reports were filed formally.
Yale sophomore Emma Goldberg, an original signatory of the open letter and a member of Yale’s undergraduate Title IX Advisory Board, said Yale’s administration has remained open to change. But she said that sexual misconduct still occurs on campus, and some students not passionate about the issue remain ignorant of the issue. She stressed that every college struggles with these issues.
“We’re really looking for the student body to step up,” she said.
The Dartmouth requested comment from 11 of the 15 Yale students and alumni who penned the letter, and all, besides Goldberg, did not respond. The Dartmouth additionally requested comment from four students and an alumna who signed the letter, none of whom responded. The Dartmouth further requested comment from six administrators who sit on Yale’s Title IX steering committee. None responded. John Aroutiouniar, a student on Yale’s Title IX Advisory Board, declined to comment. The Dartmouth requested comment from five additional students who sit on the Title IX Advisory Board, with no response.
In the week following its own Title IX investigation, filed on March 28, Harvard created a task force to address campus sexual misconduct. In a letter to the community, Harvard President Drew Faust wrote that the force “will develop recommendations about how Harvard can improve efforts to prevent sexual misconduct and develop insight into these issues.” About a year ago, Harvard hired Mia Karvonides, former attorney for the Office for Civil Rights in the U.S. Department of Education, as the University’s first Title IX coordinator, The Crimson reported.
Last month, Columbia students filed several federal complaints against the school, notably employing a Title II complaint to argue that inaction on sexual assault had led to emotional instability that caused violations under the Americans with Disabilities Act, in addition to alleging Title IX and Clery Act violations.
Emma Sulkowicz, Columbia junior and a participant in the federal complaints, said that although it is too early to discern any concrete changes on campus, the complaints have brought a media spotlight on sexual assault.
Sulkowicz cited the recent incident in which Columbia students listed names of alleged sexual assault perpetrators on bathroom stalls as an example of how students are gaining more awareness of the “real danger on campus.”
“I think it’s an expression of people’s real fear and desire to protect others, which has never been apparent in such a blatant way before,” she said.
Princeton’s Title IX investigation began in 2010, when a New England School of Law professor filed a complaint alleging that Princeton’s burden of proof for sexual assault cases was higher than the maximum standard mandated under the “Dear Colleague” letter, among other claims, the Daily Princetonian reported.
Princeton’s investigation has received less attention on campus than at other Ivy League institutions, Princeton sophomore Nathan Eckstein said.
Investigations at Dartmouth
More than 30 Dartmouth students and alumni alleged Clery Act violations of sexual assault, hate crimes, bullying, hazing and gender-based, racial and religious discrimination in May 2013.
The same month, Department of Education initiated the Title IX investigation of the College — a move that sets Dartmouth apart from its peers, as the government opted to investigate the College on its own.
“The Department of Education is investigating Title IX investigations based on sexual violence more than it ever has in its history,” Park, the attorney, said, attributing the surge in investigations to increased student activism.
Although the Office for Civil Rights arrived on campus this past January to investigate Dartmouth’s compliance with Title IX, neither investigation has been completed. Investigations can last several years.
When students announced the Clery Act complaint, Anna Winham ’14 said at a press conference that she sought to emphasize the pervasive culture of silence, hatred and violence at the College.
“The campus reaction to [the Real Talk] protests against sexual assault, racism, classism, ableism, heterosexism, cis-sexism and sexism proved that all these issues are intertwined, and that rape on our campus, as in other war zones, is a tool of violence used to keep people in line,” Winham had said.
Winham also said that Dartmouth does not provide a safe environment for its students.
Nastassja Schmiedt ’15 said at the event that although she reported she was a victim of sexual assault to administrators, she was often discouraged to go through the adjudication process.
Winham and Schmiedt failed to respond to multiple requests for comment over the past weeks.
Schmeidt said each of her friends has been affected by sexual assault or harassment, either personally or by knowing a close friend.
Park said that the conclusion to Yale’s investigation illustrates that the Office for Civil Rights often works with the institution to settle investigations by proposing remedies, including bolstered preventive measures. She stressed that investigations do not mean that institutions are necessarily out of compliance with federal regulations.
Since last year, the College and student organizations have taken several steps to revamp official policies on sexual assault.
This winter, the College announced the creation of the Center for Community Action and Prevention, slated to open July 1. In March, the College proposed a new sexual assault disciplinary policy, which will go into effect this summer.
“What motivates President Hanlon’s administration’s decisions around sexual assault is, what can we do to promote the safety of the campus, to make students feel comfortable coming forward and reporting sexual assault when they occur,” Anderson, College spokesperson, said. “There is going to be external things that are happening, but we’re focused on what’s in the best interest of the students, the faculty and the staff that are on this campus.”
He added that policy change over the past year marks a continuation of former College President Jim Yong Kim’s administration, including Kim’s creation of the Student and Presidential Committee on Sexual Assault.
Park said that federal investigations also allow colleges to educate themselves about federal code, the details of which sometimes remain murky. After an investigation is announced, campuses typically see increased conversation among students and faculty about sexual assault, she said.
While Dari Seo ’16 said he believes there was a campus climate change due to the recent investigation, Victoria De Paula ’16 disagreed.
“I think there has been a heated campus climate around sexual assault in general, unrelated to the investigation,” she said. “Honestly I do not think most students really care about the investigation which may be a problem in and of itself.”
She added that she believes the federal investigations jump-started administrative actions, like the recent change to the College’s disciplinary policy.
“Dartmouth is trying to clean up its image,” she said.
