5 months after protests, KU leaders hold sexual assault prevention forum for students
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Top leaders at the University of Kansas hosted a forum Thursday to address sexual misconduct on campus, but remained mum on an ongoing investigation into a sexual misconduct case that sparked student protests in September 2021.
Among the demands from students following the protests was an all-encompassing dashboard, where students could access sexual assault prevention resources on campus. Students called for more accessible instructions on how to report a sexual assault and other resources provided by KU’s Office of Civil Rights and Title IX — the office on campus that investigates all sexual misconduct violations.
A dashboard was developed and will be available to students through Canvas, the software used by every student to access class materials, Jen Brockman, director of the Sexual Assault Prevention and Education Center at KU, and the university’s Assistant Vice Provost of Student Affairs Katie Treadwell, said on Thursday.
The forum was hosted five months after hundreds of students participated in a week of protests at KU in September, the result of reports on social media of an unnamed who had said she was drugged and sexually assaulted by a member of the Phi Kappa Psi fraternity on campus.
Students hosted a sit-in outside of the two administrative offices for 12 hours in September, demanding to hear directly from Chancellor Douglas Girod and Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer, but there was no direct word then from KU’s two top leaders.
“There was a conversation about having this forum last semester,” Girod said during the forum Thursday night. “I think it really became apparent to us that an opportunity like this would be beneficial to update on everything that we know about sexual assault and what we do about that on campus.”
About 15 students and administrators were present at the forum Thursday night. Those who attended said it was necessary to continue conversations about sexual misconduct.
“I wanted the opportunity to hear from the provost and the chancellor in the same space regarding this issue, because that’s kind of unprecedented at this point,” said Sadie Williams, a junior at KU who attended the forum.
Girod declined to comment on the investigation during an interview with The Star after the forum because administrators are not allowed to comment on ongoing investigations, he said.
Sony Heath, interim director of Sorority and Fraternity Life at KU did address questions about disciplinary actions for members of Greek life if they are accused or found guilty of violating the university’s sexual misconduct policy. Because fraternity houses are not KU property, the university can’t make the individual move out of the house, like it may be able to with a student living in on-campus housing, Heath said.
KU has previously been criticized for its mishandling of sexual misconduct cases. In 2015, the Huffington Post reported that KU only disciplined a student who was found guilty of “non-consenxual sex” with probation and a four-page paper to write. Former Chancellor Bernadette Gray-Little opened a Sexual Assault Task Force in 2014 to investigate sexual misconduct practices at KU after its constituents expressed outrage for what they thought were not adequate punishments.
As a result, KU formed the Sexual Assault Prevention and Education Center, which hosts mandatory sexual assault prevention training with students, faculty and staff at KU. It also recommended KU hire a CARE coordinator — an advocate for sexual assault survivors and social worker who is not a mandatory reporter of sexual misconduct. Merrill Evans, the CARE coordinator at KU, was present at the forum and provides emotional support to survivors on campus.
But when KU’s student governing body requested Girod create a similar task force in 2019, he declined.
“One of the challenges is we’re making this up as we go and conversations like these are helpful for showing us where the gaps are,” Girod told The Star after the forum Thursday. “Of course we’re not done and there’s always places to get better.”
Girod characterized the changes made from the initial sexual assault task force as the “gold standard” of sexual assault prevention procedures in higher education.
“But that said, it’s embarrassing saying we’re the gold standard when we still have the problems that we have,” he said.
While administrators outlined procedures and resources for survivors of sexual misconduct at KU during the forum, students emphasized the importance of preventative measures rather than reactionary ones.
“At the end of the day this presentation was great and so was having the opportunity to ask questions, but this came as a direct result of students really pushing them really, really hard,” Williams said. “The fact that those efforts had to be so extreme for this to happen indicates a need for change.”