Less than a week after the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights announced it would investigate Swarthmore College's reporting of sexual assault complaints, the school's president responded with changes, according to a news release.
The changes come on the heels of an independent review conducted by Margolis Healy and Associates (MHA). Swarthmore president Rebecca Chopp commissioned the review for her school to review polices, practices and procedures.
"Shortly after that review was announced, students filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Education alleging that the College has not done enough to create an environment free from sexual misconduct," the report stated. In our professional opinion, the College has taken progressively meaningful and impactful steps to foster a culture free from sexual misconduct since the Department of Education (ED) Office of Civil Rights (OCR) issued its Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) in April 2011."
Following the report, Chopp sent an open letter to the Swarthmore community stating changes would be put into effect immediately as a result of the report. She said she asked MHA in May to make recommended changes in policy and some of those changes will go into effect immediately and throughout the year.
Chopp announced the school will be seeking a Title IX coordinator this fall who would report directly to the president. She said the search committee will be formed once students and faculty return for the fall semester with the goal of making a hire by the end of the academic year.
Chopp also announced the separation of drug and alcohol counseling fraternity advising. The school will hire a new position for drug and alcohol counseling and will include individual and group sessions.
Chopp also recognized, as pointed out by MHA that drugs and alcohol often play a role in sexual misconduct. The school will welcome community input as they review policies on drugs and alcohol on campus.
Click here for the full report and here for the full letter.
"These are things that should have been in place at colleges and universities across the country for a long time, but commonly have not been. It's nothing unique -- it's not that Swarthmore is an outlier," S. Daniel Carter, director of the 32 National Campus Safety Initiative for the VTV Family Outreach Foundation, told Inside Higher Ed. "OCR is likely to recognize the steps that are being taken" -- "exactly the same steps" that OCR is telling others to take in their resolution agreements - "because ultimately their goal is to bring about compliance."
Mia Ferguson, a co-complainant in the federal case against Swarthmore's reporting of sexual misconduct, said she was relieved to see the letter.
"Receiving this today was honestly a relief for me," Ferguson, a rising junior at Swarthmore, said. "[Swarthmore President] Rebecca Chopp refers in her letter to a 'sea change,' and that's the work we've been doing and the national change."
