Heather Lindkvist, of Bates College, will serve as Dartmouth’s Title IX coordinator starting in August, the College announced Tuesday.
Lindkvist, who was the Title IX officer at Bates, will implement policies and collect data to ensure that the College complies with Title IX, a federal law that prohibits discrimination based on sex at federally funded institutions, and the Clery Act.
In May 2013, students filed a Clery Act complaint against the College, documenting violations of sexual assault, discrimination, hate crimes, bullying and hazing. The Department of Education also launched an unprompted investigation into Title IX compliance at the College relating to sexual assault.
In a January interview, general counsel Robert Doninnoted that the College wanted to hire a compliance officer after College President Phil Hanlon highlighted the need for administrators to better prevent and respond to sexual assault in a November speech to faculty. Donin had said that the investigations were not the primary motivation for the position's creation.
Managing Title IX compliance, as well as monitoring and tracking incidents of sexual discrimination and misconduct, previously fell to the Office of Institutional Diversity and Equity, which strained the six-person office, vice president of Institutional Diversity and Equity Evelyn Ellis said in January.
Sean Connolly contributed reporting.
