The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) investigation has found that Princeton violated Title IX when it failed to address a sexually hostile environment for a student and didn’t promptly and equitably respond to sexual violence complaints.
The results of the investigation, which were released Wednesday, also found that the policies and procedures used by the university to investigate and respond to assaults and violence did not comply with Title IX.
In response, Princeton has entered into a resolution agreement with OCR. Princeton has agreed to:
- Publicize and provide a comprehensive education and prevention program that educates the university community (staff and students) about the school’s policies and procedures regarding sexual assault/violence, as well as the support services and resources available to students.
- Develop and implement a public awareness and bystander intervention campaign aimed at educating students about sexual assault/violence and safe strategies for intervention.
- Conduct annual climate checks with students to assess the steps and measures taken by the university as part of the resolution agreement and use the information to inform future proactive steps to achieve its goal of a campus free of sexual misconduct—in particular, sexual assault/violence.
- Annually track and report to OCR on the university’s responses and handling of all sexual assault/violence allegations.
- Take steps to improve communication and coordination with local law enforcement agencies, specifically to address the protocols and procedures for referring allegations of sexual assault/violence, sharing information, and conducting contemporaneous investigations.
- Reexamine all complaints filed from academic year 2011-2012 to Sept. 1, 2014, to determine whether each complaint was handled appropriately and take appropriate action to address any problems identified in the manner in which these complaints were handled, including providing appropriate remedies that may still be available for the complainants in these cases, such as counseling or academic adjustments.
- Provide the students identified in the complaints with remedies relating to the educational and other expenses incurred from the date on which each student first reported alleged sexual assault/violence to the university to the date of resolution.
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