Congress mandates surveys on sexual violence

Once again the federal Education Department is stepping in to do something that all colleges should have done but many haven’t — surveys about sexual violence on campus. Hooray for the feds.

Under a provision tucked into a 3,000-page Congressional bill to fund the federal government for six months, the Education Department will develop an online survey to measure students’ experiences with sexual harassment and assault, the Chronicle of Higher Education reported. Any college receiving federal funds will be required to conduct the campus-climate survey every two years, and the Education Department will publish aggregate results. The legislation also calls for creation of a task force to advise legislators, the public, and the Education Department about sexual violence in education and to propose culturally appropriate prevention and response measures.

Elsewhere

NCAA basketball March Madness has begun! But the NCAA failed to make sufficient changes since last year’s scandal about disparate treatment of men’s and women’s teams, according to a scathing op-ed in USA Today and a letter from three Congresswomen.

The University of San Francisco fired a baseball coach and an assistant coach for alleged “persistent psychological abuse and repeated inappropriate sexual conduct.” The university and the NCAA face lawsuits for not stopping the behavior earlier. Separately, U.S. attorneys charged a former San Jose State University sports medicine director with civil rights violations for sexually assaulting multiple women athletes. He could face six years in prison. A March 24 webinar will discuss “Lack of Accountability for Athlete Abuse in College Athletics” from 2:00-3:30 p.m. ET.

A USA Today investigation found that California State University, Fresno severely underfunded and understaffed its Title IX office during seven years under former president Joseph Castro. Controversy over his handling of Title IX complaints led him to resign recently from being chancellor of the 23-campus CSU system. Blame also must be placed on sycophantic, incompetent administrators who surrounded Castro at Fresno State, faculty from the Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies department argued in a Fresno Bee op-ed.

Harvard graduate students signed an anonymous letter charging some faculty with hypocrisy and saying the Department of African and African American Studies has become “a hostile environment for AAAS students” following the sexual-harassment scandal involving Professor John Comaroff. To get a sense of what it’s like for many student survivors of sexual assault, read the stories of five students who filed Title IX complaints at Washington State’s six public universities.

A scholar-in-residence filed federal complaints against Newport University in Newport News, Va. charging gender, racial, and religious discrimination. Multiple women at the University of Florida accused a former fraternity member of sexual violence. Rollins College in Winter Park, Fla. fired a tenured professor accused of sexually harassing students.

Protests by students, faculty and staff at the University of North Texas about actions by the Young Conservatives of Texas that they believe violate Title IX drew a visit from the university’s president. The YCT invited a speaker from an organization that the Southern Poverty Law Center labels a hate group; the speaker seems to be making the rounds, because students at Yale University also protested her visit there.

An Arkansas teacher pled guilty to sexually assaulting a student, who now is suing the school district for not stopping the harassment. A Berkeley (Calif.) High School teacher is losing his teaching license and faces two lawsuits over complaints of sexual harassment that may have gone on for more than 15 years.

On the up side

Since last summer I’ve been feeding lots of information and resources to the makers of a four-part documentary series about Title IX slated for airing in June on ESPN. I’m jazzed that they chose a name for their series that echoes my book title — 37 Words! See a video preview of the series. The first two episodes will air June 21 and the second two episodes on June 28, both at 8 p.m. ET. ESPN also has other Title IX-related programming starting June 1.

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi held a reception recognizing Title IX’s 50th anniversary and honoring sports icon Billie Jean King at the Capitol.

Prominent legal theorist and feminist activist Catharine MacKinnon endorsed the election of Pamela Y. Price, one of the main characters in my book who currently is running for district attorney of Alameda County, Calif. MacKinnon was part of the team that adapted her ground-breaking legal interpretation of sexual harassment as sex discrimination to file the first lawsuit under Title IX for sexual harassment in 1977, Alexander v. Yale.

A chapter book for ages 12-18 tells the story of the “godmother” of Title IX in Bernice Sandler and the Fight for Title IX (Magination Press). And of course Lucy Jane Bledsoe’s new Young Adult novel debuts April 26, based on her own experiences fighting for a high school girls’ basketball team under Title IX, No Stopping Us Now (Three Rooms Press). I’ve read Bledsoe’s novel and it’s marvelous.

Actor George Clooney will produce a docu-series on the decades-long sexual assault scandal at Ohio State University in which a sports doctor assaulted at least 350 athletes, mostly men. The wonderful Title IX Blog acknowledged the 46th anniversary of the Yale women’s rowing team protest under Title IX, a story told in my book (of course), in the 2015 book Course Correction: A Story of Rowing and Resilience in the Wake of Title IX, and in the 1999 documentary A Hero for Daisy.

Where you’ll find me

The New York Historical Society’s Center for Women’s History & Academic Affairs posted a discussion with me and some of the earliest Title IX activists. Part of the Max Conference on Women’s History, it will be on their website throughout March and then remain on YouTube.

If you registered for the American Historical Association 2022 conference, you can watch a video that will be available through June of our panel session on “Fifty Years of Title IX: Evolutions in the Struggle Against Sex Discrimination in Education.”

April 1, 3:45-4:55 p.m. ET — The student chapter of National Lawyers Guild at the University of Virginia hosts an all-day seminar, with me on a panel discussing the intersectional failings of Title IX.

April 2, 1:30-3:00 pm ET — I’ll be in Boston speaking on a panel at the Organization of American Historians annual conference. Check out a two-minute video preview of our panel. 

April 12 — Book publication day! From 12 noon to 1 p.m. PT at San Francisco State University, the school’s chapter of NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists hosts a live gathering of students and a give-away of books by three authors (including moi) who will join via Zoom. I’ll be there virtually with Vanessa Hua and Lucy Jane Bledsoe. Later, join me at 7 p.m. ET for a hybrid 37 Words book launch event live at Norwich Bookstore in Vermont and virtually. Details to come!

April 13, 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET — You’re invited to a lively Zoom discussion between me and Kenyora Parham, executive director of End Rape on Campus, as we talk about 37 Words during Sexual Assault Awareness Month. I’ll post links when available.

April 21, 7 p.m. ET — A virtual get-together with the Washington, D.C. chapter of NOW.

May 26, 6:30 p.m. PT — A virtual get-together with the Riverside, Calif. chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW).

June 9, 7 p.m. PT — Join me and Lucy Jane Bledsoe, author of the new Young Adult novel No Stopping Us Now, at an event hosted by Green Apple Books on the Park, San Francisco. We’re not sure yet if this will be live or virtual. Stay tuned!

June 23, 3:00-4:30 p.m. ET — It’s Title IX’s 50th birthday! I’ll be Zooming with members of the Association of Title IX Administrators (ATIXA) to celebrate. 

Here’s where you’ll find links to preorder 37 Words: Title IX and Fifty Years of Fighting Sex Discrimination. Preorders are so helpful! Thanks for your support.