With news this week that Utah Valley University is under federal investigation, Utah now has half of its 10 largest colleges potentially violating students’ civil rights in their handling of sexual assault and harassment reports.
That includes three of the eight colleges in the state system of higher education — University of Utah, Dixie State University and UVU — and private Brigham Young University and Westminster College.
It could be worse. The list doesn’t include Utah State University, which stumbled rather spectacularly in both the Torrey Green and Jason Relopez cases in recent years. If USU were included (and it still may be), half of Utah’s eight public colleges would be facing Title IX investigations.
An investigation is not proof of malfeasance, and the specifics of the investigations aren’t public. But the requirements under Title IX go straight to the imminent safety of students. The schools must investigate specific assault reports quickly and thoroughly. They also must offer counseling, relocation and other services to those who report.
Utah is hardly alone. There are 254 colleges with open federal Title IX investigations, and that includes most Pac 12 schools and most Ivy League schools. Privilege and prestige are no insulator.
Still, there are more than 2,000 colleges in the country. If half of Utah’s colleges are among the 254, it would appear we’re over-represented.
The private colleges have to address these issues through their own mechanisms, and BYU made an important step when it decided to stop opening Honor Code investigations on students reporting an assault.
For the state schools, it’s time for a deeper dive. Specifically, the Utah System of Higher Education and its commissioner, Dave Buhler, need to undertake their own investigations. USHE has already begun to demand more coordination and consistency from campus Title IX offices.
One of the most vexing problems with getting to the bottom of these cases has been a reluctance to publicly examine them. There are privacy concerns, to be sure, but it’s a hard sell for the colleges to simply say they’re taking care of things. An outside examination ultimately helps them, too.
Leaders in this state often complain of federal meddling, and Title IX investigations have drawn criticism as being heavy-handed, including from new Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. But those same leaders have shown little interest in taking on campus sexual assault themselves.
Make no mistake. Campus rape is under-reported and under-prosecuted, and it is our daughters and sons who will be the next victims. We need to get out in front of this.