Title IX Complaint Questionable

This article originally appeared in the Harvard Crimson on Sept. 18, 2002.

Last spring, Harvard altered its disciplinary policy governing peer disputes to require corroborating evidence before the Administrative Board will launch a full review of a case. This will greatly reduce the number of sexual assault cases the University actually investigates; obviously, in many of these cases, corroborating evidence is difficult to obtain before an investigation even begins. For this reason among others, Harvard’s new policy is a tragedy for sexual assault victims. However, one anonymous student’s recent appeal of the decision on Title IX grounds—which prohibits discrimination in education on the basis of sex—is not an effective way of pressing the administration to remedy its error.

The relevance of Title IX in this case is questionable. According to the Office of Civil Rights in the Department of Education, which oversees Title IX compliance, its guidelines only cover sexual harassment, not sexual assault. The complaint alleges that under Title IX, sexual harassment cases must be handled in a “prompt and equitable” way, and that this change prevents the University from doing so. Assistant Dean of the College Karen E. Avery ’87, however, says the University is committed to providing fair and expeditious procedures to sexual assault victims.

Read the full article in the Harvard Crimson.