On Monday afternoon, the Women's Center kicked off a weeklong series of "strategy sessions," after Yale's administration formed a University-Wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct in response to the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights investigation of Yale.
Around 70 people attended Monday's talk, which was geared toward brainstorming ways in which Yale students can combat sexual misconduct, but the Women's Center told the Yale Daily News it was not meant to help Yale comply with Title IX requirements, which prohibit gender discrimination at schools that receive federal funding.
“These sessions are not designed to assess or change the status of Yale in relation to Title IX,” said Sally Walstrom, Class of 2012, a public relations coordinator for the Women’s Center. “That is something for [the] OCR to evaluate.”
By the end of the sessions, the Women’s Center will forward suggestions for student and administrative action to Yale College Dean Mary Miller and the student body next weekWalstrom told the paper, .
Meantime, three Title IX experts told the Daily News that Yale might take additional steps to improve its sexual culture and harassment policies in conjunction with federal investigators.
In general, it is unlikely that the Office for Civil Rights declares a university has violated Title IX regulations, experts said. They said the OCR more often works with the universities to ensure they are in compliance going forward.
S. Daniel Carter, senior vice president of Security on Campus, Inc., a non-profit that assists students who file Title IX complaints, said the OCR has three options after it opens an investigation: It can take away federal funding, refer the case to the United States Department of Justice or reach a voluntary resolution agreement.
