Addressing a national issue

One of the most frequent conversations I have with parents is about the safety of their children on campus. One of our top priorities at CU is ensuring the safety not only of students, but also faculty, staff and visitors. To that end, we are addressing an issue that has received lots of national attention lately, sexual assault on college campuses. Our Boulder and Denver campuses are among more than 70 colleges and universities in Colorado and nationwide being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights over sexual assault incidents (the Denver campus is only a review of policies and practices, unrelated to a particular incident). We welcome the national focus on the issue because it will help us improve.

We take this issue seriously. Our Boulder campus has engaged an external review of its processes for enforcing policies governing discrimination and sexual harassment. While it found the campus complies with Title IX and related federal law, Chancellor Phil DiStefano has taken actions to substantially increase efforts and focus. He recently hired a Title IX coordinator with oversight of all campus sexual misconduct investigations and is consolidating and streamlining investigative, education/prevention and support services.

These are not easy issues, nor are they just CU issues. Higher education institutions across the country are struggling with how to address them. Influential external groups are involved as well. The U.S. Senate, led by Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, is considering amendments to the federal legislation that prohibits all forms of sexual harassment at higher education institutions. CU and many other schools are participating in those discussions as they proceed.

When students reach the age when they are studying at colleges and universities, one of the challenges is that they are responsible for their own conduct and will sometimes make unwise decisions, particularly after hours or off campus. That’s one of the factors that makes this issue difficult. We intend to do everything in our power to create and sustain a culture and environment where sexual assault and discrimination are not tolerated. We will ensure that our policies and procedures in this area are the best they can be, complying with or exceeding federal law. This includes extensive training, education and prevention strategies for faculty, staff and students, putting resources into positions that focus on issues of harassment and discrimination, and reviewing our policies and procedures and making changes where necessary. Most important, we must keep these matters at the forefront of our priority list.

CU leadership is united in its stance on issues of discrimination and sexual harassment. Our campus leaders have made clear the expectation that we foster a learning environment that is safe and inclusive for all. I have asked for ongoing reports of our efforts and where gaps may exist so we can address them. The CU Board of Regents is engaged and will remain so.

Issues of sexual assault and discrimination are not easy, but it is imperative that we continue to place a sharp focus on them and do everything we can to assure our students, their parents, faculty,