Yale Issues Complaints of Sexual Misconduct Report

NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Yale has issued its Report of Complaints of Sexual Misconduct, which summarizes complaints brought to the University’s attention through the University-Wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct, Title IX coordinators, and the Yale Police Department, from July 1 to Dec. 31, 2011.

The comprehensive report, which exceeds any legal mandate, provides a level of transparency expected to motivate the Yale community to improve the campus climate, administrators said. It reports all complaints of misconduct, including verbal harassment and sexual assault.

The report was issued by Deputy Provost Stephanie Spangler, who was appointed last November to oversee Yale’s Title IX compliance efforts and to lead the new educational and outreach initiatives.

“There is more that we must do as a community and as individuals to prevent sexual misconduct and to ensure that Yale’s culture is optimally supportive and unfailingly respectful of all individuals,” Spangler said. “At the same time, I was encouraged to see that students, faculty and staff are making use of the procedures and resources that are available to address complaints.”

The report is one of a number of initiatives described in President Richard C. Levin’s November 2011 “Response to the Report of the Advisory Committee on Campus Climate” to enhance the community’s awareness of matters relating to sexual misconduct and to engage the community’s active participation in addressing and preventing complaints of sexual misconduct.

The report is as informative as possible regarding the nature of complaints and the actions taken to address them while also taking all measures to protect the privacy of the parties involved, said administrators, noting that Yale’s commitment to confidentiality is essential to maintaining the integrity and effectiveness of the complaint review procedures.

“The number of complaints of sexual misconduct brought forward and outlined in the report is a matter of deep concern,” Levin said in a message to the community. “Even though only a very small fraction of our campus population is alleged to be violating our policies, our aspiration must be to raise the bar so that no one believes that sexual misconduct is acceptable – and all act accordingly.”

The report issued on Jan. 31 is the first of what will be twice-yearly reports to the community.

Read the report.

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