Columbia University President Lee Bollinger finally acknowledged mounting complaints on campus that the school has been dropping the ball on sexual assault investigations by promising greater “transparency” and a review of their policy and procedures for handling sex cases, according to an e-mail he blasted yesterday to students.
The Post first reported last month that the administration was mishandling sex complaints after it gave an athlete — who was accused of raping two women and groping a third — a free pass by allowing him to remain on campus without punishment, according to the accusers. The three women said they were never encouraged by the school to report the incidents to the police.
“Gender-based misconduct and sexual assault have no place in our community. Period,” Bollinger said in the statement to students.
The school chief promised to go beyond the annual reporting of criminal complaints on campus required under the Clery Act by releasing statistics on sexual assaults and other gender based misconduct on campus. He added that he supports a review of the school’s committee that oversees the investigation of sex crime cases by the University Senate. And in addition to launching a new website that provides resources for rape victims, he plans to hold forums where the students can voice their ideas of how the school should handle the cases.
“This will require a delicate balancing of confidentiality and transparency,” Bollinger said.
The University Democrats circulated a petition last year asking the school to release the outcome of sexual misconduct investigations on campus to see how many cases actually resulted in a guilty outcome and discipline. The group’s president Sejal Singh said she’s glad the school is finally stepping in front of the issue but there’s still more to do.
“I don’t think it’s sufficient but I do think it shows the university’s responsiveness and the urgency of the issue,” Singh told the Post about the President’s proposal.
“I think it’s a major victory for the students, but there’s more work to be done.”
Many students have been criticizing the school’s internal judicial panel, made up of professors and faculty members, for how they handle sex crime complaints. Two of the women who spoke to the Post about their cases said the administration delayed their investigation for months. Another said she wasn’t permitted to supply sufficient evidence to support her case.
Barnard College President Debora Spar echoed her support for Bollinger’s new stance on sex abuse on campus.
“I want to reiterate his message of zero tolerance for this type of misconduct, and emphasize that Barnard College is deeply committed to maintaining a campus environment that is safe for every member of our community,” Spar said in a follow up e-mail posted on the student run BWOG blog.