CU Boulder implements sexual misconduct task force

Annie Mehl, Daily Times-Call, Longmont, Colo.
·3 min read

Sep. 2—Editor's note: The story below has been updated to clarify that the University of Colorado Boulder's new sexual misconduct task force was planned this summer and is not directly related to the sexual assault report that occured on campus last month.

The University of Colorado Boulder has announced a new sexual misconduct task force it is starting to address and prevent the crime on campus.

The campus on Aug. 26 released an announcement about its new task force which will be led by the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance and the Office of Victim Assistance to expand CU Boulder's sexual misconduct prevention efforts. The task force will work across the campus to review sexual misconduct survey data and will then recommend prevention practices to be implemented on campus, wrote Llen Pomeroy, associate vice chancellor of OIEC and Title IX Coordinator at CU Boulder, in an email.

"We used the 2015 data to understand the relationship between sexual assault, retention and belonging — an evidence-based risk factor in sexual assault — to investigate practices that had an impact on reducing sex assault rates among our undergraduate students," Pomeroy wrote. "We need to continue to enhance those efforts based on the 2021 results."

The campus' 2021-2022 sexual misconduct survey will be released on Tuesday.

Pomeroy said a key finding in the 2015 survey showed that only 8% of CU Boulder undergraduates who reported that they experienced sexual assault reported it to OIEC or law enforcement. Additionally, only 10% indicated that they utilized confidential support services on campus. In response to that survey, OIEC started CU Boulder's Don't Ignore It website to increase an understanding of reporting options and resources available to students.

"We need to continue to rely on data to inform our approach, and that is the same strategy the task force will use in response to the 2021 results," she wrote in an email.

A 2020-2021 annual report from OIEC also shows that it responded to a total of 1,371 cases, all of which were reported to OIEC directly or by a third party, the report said. Of these cases, 541 were allegations within the scope of the sexual misconduct, intimate partner violence and stalking policy; 720 cases were related to concerns under the discrimination and harassment policy; and five were related to the conflict of interest in cases of amorous relationships policy.

During that same 2020-2021 school year, OIEC administered 12 formal grievances, two of which involved allegations against multiple people, the report said. One case was dismissed prior to the hearing stage while 11 cases proceeded to a final determination following live cross examination.

Live cross examination is one of the many changes former U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos made to Title IX, the federal gender equity law. Previously, students had facilitated cross-examination provided through CU staff. DeVos' policy changes also narrowed the types of sexual misconduct cases schools are required to investigate to allegations if they occur on campus or in other areas controlled by the school and only if allegations are reported to certain officials.

Pomeroy said the U.S. Department of Education announced new proposed rules for Title IX enforcement in June. As the new regulations move toward publication, the CU system office will lead university's four campuses in assessing how existing system-wide policies might need to change to conform to the new rules.

"While (sexual misconduct) rates are not necessarily better or worse at CU Boulder than at other universities, we do have tools to strategically innovate how we prevent the problem," she wrote in the email. "This will be the mission of the task force moving forward, particularly with respect to implementing prevention practices that address root causes."

The Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance and Office of Victim Assistance are hosting a sexual misconduct town hall from 4 to 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 26. The event will be hosted in-person at the University Memorial Center in room 235 or virtually. To attend virtually, people can register at bit.ly/3wSUQMC.