Myinforms.com also reported on The Tennessean article about a request to delay a campus disciplinary hearing by a former University of Tennessee student: http://ow.ly/YtFeN
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Scott Lewis interviewed by KCENTV regarding Baylor’s Title IX Office
The NCHERM Group Partner and ATIXA Founder and Advisory Board Member W. Scott Lewis, J.D. quoted by KCENTV in Waco, Texas regarding work by #titleix Office at Baylor University.
KCEN interviewed W. Scott Lewis, a nationally-recognized Title IX investigator and partner with the NCHERM Group, which works with campuses on handling sexual assaults.
Lewis said Universities, not just Baylor, have misinterpreted Title IX requirements for years. According to him, the law actually required Universities to have a Title IX coordinator since its inception in the 1970s.
“To be quite frank, most schools didn’t pay attention to it,” Lewis said. “It wasn’t until the ‘Dear Colleague’ letter in 2011 that suddenly everyone started appointing a coordinator that they were supposed to have for the prior 40 years.”
On Friday, Baylor released a plan of action that includes creating more counseling space and mandating annual Title IX training for upperclassmen and graduate students. Before, only incoming students took part. Now, faculty and staff will get yearly training, too. And, Baylor promised to fully fund continuing education for those working in the Title IX Office.
Lewis said Universities need to remember that their investigations are completely independent from law enforcement investigations. Even if a prosecutor doesn’t believe he or she can prove a case to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt, Universities can still take their own disciplinary action based on what they deem to be sufficient evidence.
“They have to have effectively trained investigators to do this, not just well, but exceptionally well. They need to be able to respond promptly, effectively, impartially and resolve these matters appropriately,” Lewis added.
Brett Sokolow quoted in The Tennessean
The NCHERM Group President and CEO and ATIXA Executive Director Brett Sokolow quoted in The Tennessean regarding a request to delay a campus disciplinary hearing by a former University of Tennessee student.
Along with a statement by Jane Doe 3, the latest court filing also includes a declaration by Brett Sokolow, a national consultant to colleges and universities on student disciplinary procedures and president and CEO of the National Center for Higher Education Risk Management law firm.
Sokolow’s declaration said Tennessee’s public universities use a system of student discipline that does not comply with federal Title IX rules, which govern how universities must respond to allegations of sexual assault.
The system “deviates from the standard of care” required under those rules by giving only the accused student a right to counsel in the proceedings and only that student’s attorney the right to cross-examination, Sokolow said. The process also violates federal rules because of inherent delays, he said.
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
Position Statement on Consent-Based Policy
ATIXA releases position statement on Consent-Based Policy and Requirements of Title IX, its first statement of 2016. http://ow.ly/Y7IHg
Monday, February 8, 2016
Sokolow quoted in Newsweek on the battleground of LGBT rights
Sokolow says he believes that 15 years from now, most conservative religious institutions will obtain exemptions and the more moderate religious colleges will not. To compete for applicants and to meet the demands of a much more tolerant generation of students, most of the moderate religious campuses have opened their doors to LGBT students, and will continue to do so. He does not see the loss of federal funding at risk.
“As a country, we are becoming more and more open and tolerant, generally, with each generation. This will continue to be true because it has always been true,” said Sokolow. “The moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice, as Dr. King said.”
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