As the College remains under investigation by the Department of Education for Title IX violations, multiple universities have also received criticism for policies perceived to be too lenient on students found guilty of sexual misconduct.
Yale University, which was fined for Clery Act violations and investigated for Title IX violations, received national criticism after six students found guilty of sexual misconduct were not expelled. One student was given a two-term suspension, another was placed on probation and four received written reprimands.
Critics of colleges’ sexual misconduct policies typically call for policy changes that include modifying the language used by administrations, enforcing punishments for those found guilty of sexual misconduct and adopting a zero-tolerance policy.
Many institutions, however, already have policies in place that can be classified as zero-tolerance, said Brett Sokolow, founder of the National Center for Higher Education Risk Management.
“It’s a question of what zero-tolerance is,” Sokolow said. “Zero-tolerance to me means that we’ll take sexual misconduct seriously and impose appropriate sanctions, but to a lot of people it’s automatic expulsion, and that’s not appropriate.”
Sexual misconduct, harassment and assault may encompass a wide range of behaviors, from inappropriately touching someone at a party to rape. Solokow said the first case should prompt a sanction, while the second case is grounds for dismissal from the institution.
Sokolow said the College already has no-tolerance policy in its community standards, which state that “students found responsible for engaging in actual or attempted sexual penetration without consent, or who are found responsible for repeated sexual misconduct, should be prepared to be permanently separated from the College.”
There is a difference between the possibility of expulsion and guaranteeing it, and zero-tolerance policies do not always ensure automatic expulsion, he said.
Duke University has received positive press for its new sexual misconduct policy, which guarantees that expulsion will be the first sanction considered when a student is found guilty of sexual misconduct. The procedure, however, states that first considering expulsion does not guarantee it will be the final outcome.
This July, the Student and Presidential Committee on Sexual Assault published recommendations for how Dartmouth can better combat sexual assault. The report includes suggestions for the administration, student body, faculty and alumni.
One of the SPCSA’s chief recommendations is adding the word “rape” to the Student Handbook. Since Dartmouth and most peer institutions use terms like “non-consensual sex” in their publications, critics commonly argue that administrative policies fail to seriously address sexual assault.
“Rape is no more ‘non-consensual sex’ than murder is non-consensual death, robbery is non-consensual taking of property, or arson is non-consensual setting of fires,” Facebook user Jessi Mc-Sn posted on Yale’s Facebook page.
SPCSA chair Will Scheiman ’14 said he hopes this year’s recommendations will pressure the administration to codify the term “rape” in its policies and effect the expulsion of community members found responsible.
“SPCSA has a great relationship with the administration,” he said in an email. “Unfortunately, roadblocks have come up in past attempts to reach our mutual goal.”
Due to persistent sex-based discrimination, financial considerations and concerns about maintaining reputations, colleges often draft policies that do not necessarily prevent, investigate and punish incidents of sexual assault, said Erin Buzuvis, director of Western New England University School of Law’s center for gender and sexuality studies.
Dean of the College Charlotte Johnson and Kate Burke, assistant dean of the college for campus life, said the administration is reviewing the SPCSA recommendations but cannot list what changes will be made, given the recommendations’ recent release and broad audience.