Columbia University Releases Data on Campus Sexual Assault Cases; School Punished No One for Rape Last Year
ByColumbia University fielded complaints against 10 undergraduate students for sexual assault last academic year, but the Ivy League school punished none of them.
According to the Huffington Post, Columbia disclosed such information for the first time since coming under fire for improperly handling sexual assault on campus. Of the 10 disciplinary cases regarding rape or an equivalent crime, four are still open.
Columbia had said it would release such a report in Jan., but did not follow through until Wednesday. According to the report, the school did not punish any undergraduate students for sexual assault between July 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014.
"Over the past year, the issue of sexual assault has gained a new level of attention and engagement on campuses around the country," Columbia Provost John Coatsworth said in statement to the school community. "We are committed to providing a national model of the best policies and practices to help ensure that members of our University community feel safe and respected. As one part of that commitment, we are publishing Columbia's first annual Report on Gender-Based Misconduct Prevention and Response."
In April, BuzzFeed reported, 23 students filed a federal Title IX complaint against Columbia for mishandling numerous rape claims. Some of the complainants said the school did not perform adequate investigations into their own complaints and allowed their assailant to go unpunished.
Data in the new report was cumulative and did not examine specific cases, meaning Columbia did not disclose whether or not any individual investigation identified a suspect and let him or her go. Of the 10 cases, two complainants either asked for a dismissal of charges or recanted their original statement. Four assailants faced punishment while they were not enrolled in classes or for breaking their orders of no contact, not for the sexual assault act itself.
"I'm glad to see this information is being released, but I don't think that this report answered many of the questions students had raised," Sejal Singh, a Columbia student who advocated for the release of the data, told the HP. "Without information on the sanctions, there's no way to hold the university accountable."