Colleges Spending Millions to Deal With Sexual Misconduct Complaints

By Anemona Hartocollis The New York Times

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — In a brightly lit classroom here at Harvard, Mia Karvonides was trying to explain to a group of bemused student leaders the difference between a romantic encounter and “unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature,” as the university’s relatively new code of sexual misconduct defines it.

Read the story here.

Related content:

• UC Berkeley Again Accused of Being Soft on Harassment (Inside Higher Ed)
• April is Sexual Awareness Month (National Sexual Violence Resource Center)
• Community Colleges Face Special Challenges in Complying with Title IX (The Chronicle of Higher Education - requires paid subscription)

Sexual Assault Allegation Shakes Conduct Group

President-elect of organization of officials who play key roles in Title IX cases accuses her predecessor of sexual misconduct.

By Josh Logue, Inside Higher Ed

The president-elect of the Association for Student Conduct Administration published an open letter on Twitter Wednesday evening, the first night of the organization’s annual conference, in which she says she was sexually assaulted by its former president-elect and that the ASCA “has not had my back” in the incident’s aftermath.

Read the story here.

Related content:

• Indiana Title IX Administrator, Accused of Sexual Assault, Resigns (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
• An Administrator’s Rape Allegation Shakes Student-Conduct Group (The Chronicle of Higher Education)

Students Benefit From Programs Responding to Violence

The Chronicle of Higher Education
November 7, 2011

To the Editor:
Over the past several years there have been countless news stories and investigative reports highlighting the poor record that colleges and universities have when it comes to responding to sexual assault and misconduct on campus. These stories focus on huge financial settlements for complainants and paint a picture of an almost cold and uncaring academy. Rarely do we hear about the positive and excellent work being done in these areas on our campuses. I want to share a story of hope and positive impact that is taking place on my campus.
The Phoenix Center at Auraria is an office funded by a grant from the U.S. Department of Justice to respond to issues of interpersonal violence and sexual misconduct on the Auraria Campus, in Denver.

Full Comment: http://chronicle.com/article/Students-Benefit-From-Programs/129678/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en

Bethune-Cookman Defends Dismissals of Professors Accused of Sexual Misconduct

Diverse Issues in Higher Education
by Jamaal Abdul-Alim , October 27, 2010

Dr. Clanton Dawson, professor of religion and philosophy at Bethune-Cookman University, was in the middle of giving a lecture in the school’s Mary McLeod Bethune Fine Arts building more than a year ago when a student suddenly broke down and started crying.
“I go to her. I ask if she’s OK,” Dawson recalled during an interview Tuesday. “She said ‘yeah,’ but asked to speak with me after class.”
The conversation that Dawson says followed that fateful day is one of several that set off a chain of events that would ultimately lead to the controversial dismissal in spring 2009 of four faculty members who allegedly coerced female students into trading sex for grades.

Full Story: http://diverseeducation.com/article/14328/