investigation foralleged failures by school officials and campus
police to prosecute rape.
In response to a Title IX complaint filed in May, the U.S.
Departmentof Education's Office for Civil Rights launched the inquiry
on June 26, although complainants only received notice over the
weekend that the investigation had begun. A group of 13 students,
along with several other unnamed students, claim they suffered from
extensive failures on the part of USC administrators and the
Department of Public Safety in responding to reports of sexual
violence on campus.
OCR program manager Charles R. Love confirmed in a letter to USC
student Tucker Reed, obtained by The Huffington Post, that the agency
is investigating allegations the university failed to prosecute and
adjudicate claims of sexual violence and to respond promptly to
complaints of harassment on campus. Such failures would be violations
of Title IX, a federal gender equality law.
Jody Shipper, USC Title IX coordinator and executive director of the
Office of Equity and Diversity, said the university "remains vigilant
in addressing any issues promptly and fully as they arise," and has
been reviewing its policies to ensure they comply with federal law.
"We look forward to working with OCR to address any concerns and
review our protocols as needed," Shipper said.
Reed, the lead complainant, said USC dismissed her claim that her
ex-boyfriend had raped her, despite her providing audio recordings of
him admitting to it. At one point, Reed said, a USC official told her
the goal was to offer an "educative" process, not to "punish" the
assailant.
"The problems are rampant within every department, pretty much every
service on campus," Reed told HuffPost, adding, "There is an
overwhelming disregard for women and students going through obvious
trauma, and they traumatized them further."
One student involved in the USC complaint, who asked to remain
anonymous, said a DPS detective told her the campus police
determinedthat no rape occurred in her case because her alleged
assailant did not orgasm, and that therefore they had decided not to
refer the case to theLos Angeles Police Department.
"Because he stopped, it was not rape," she was told, according to the
complaint. "Even though his penis penetrated your vagina, because he
stopped, it was not a crime."
A student judicial affairs official cited a similar reason to that
student fordismissing the case, meaning that her alleged assailant
would not face any court proceeding.
When another student went to the DPS to report a sexual assault at a
fraternity event, according to the complaint, an officer told her and
a friend, also a sexual assault survivor who had accompanied her, that
women should not "go out, get drunk and expect not to get raped."
The complaint claims that when students were found guilty of sexual
assault, some were given light punishments, including a formal letter
to stay away from the victim, and were allowed to graduate from the
university.
Love, of the OCR, wrote that the office had dismissed some aspects of
the complaint because students had not provided enough information,
because the agency does not have jurisdiction for the allegation, or
because the incident occurred more than 180 days prior to filing the
complaint, surpassing the agency's time limit.
OCR is currently engaged in similar investigations at Occidental
Collegein Los Angeles, Swarthmore College near Philadelphia, the
University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill and the University of
Colorado at Boulder.
USC student Alexa Schwartz said filing the complaint hadn't been easy,
but she's hopeful a federal review may result in improvements at the
university.
"Now the ball is in USC's court," Schwartz said. "Their response will
determine whether all this effort has paid off."
The complainants' goal for the investigation is less about punishing
the private university, said Francesca Bessey, who is part of that
group, than about ensuring college students around the country get a
better response from their schools in the future.
"For me," Bessey said, "the technical outcome of the investigation is
much less important than the consciousness I want it to inspire among
decision makers at colleges and universities nationwide.
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