Harassment complaints persist at California colleges. Bill takes on ‘deficient standards’

A new bill introduced into the California state Senate would add reporting requirements at higher education campuses like Fresno State, where regulators found the administration had mishandled many sexual misconduct cases.

State Sen. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, on Thursday announced Senate Bill 1166, which he said was meant to add oversight through investigations at California State University campuses, the University of California system and community colleges.

Fresno State for several years has been dealing with a string of incidents involving allegations of sexual harassment and Title IX violations. Many of the complaints surrounded a slow response or mishandling of harassment reports by university officials.

Dodd’s announcement also pointed to colleges in his district, Sonoma State and California Maritime Academy, where violence and harassment has been an issue.

“Right now, we have deficient standards and transparency in the investigation and reporting process, and there’s a serious lack of consistency and accountability from those in charge,” Dodd said in a statement. “My bill will incorporate key recommendations from the auditor’s report to create meaningful systemic and cultural change.”

The proposed legislation was written to accompany Dodd’s bill from last year, SB 808, that required regular reporting from the CSU system to the state and for annual reports to be made public online.

College campuses have been in the spotlight in recent years.

Failings at Fresno State came to light after a report that former school President Joseph Castro mishandled as many as 12 sexual harassment complaints about another administrator, who was also a friend of Castro.

While Fresno State’s top official, Castro failed to document allegations and continued to provide support to Frank Lamas, the former vice president of student affairs, even after an investigation confirmed alleged inappropriate behavior, a CSU system investigation found.

Castro later resigned from his position as head of the CSU system after the issues came to light.

SB 1166 was expected to be heard in its first policy committee in about a month, the senator’s office said.