Harvard Announces New Sexual Assault Policy
Harvard University’s new sexual assault policy, which will go into effect this fall, includes the creation of a “central office’’ to investigate cases.
The Harvard Crimson stated:
“The new policy, unveiled Wednesday, dramatically changes how cases of sexual assault are handled at Harvard. The new Office of Sexual and Gender Based Dispute Resolution will employ professional investigators and essentially remove investigative responsibility from individual disciplinary boards across schools. Based on the facts provided by the central office, those disciplinary boards will work with University Title IX Officer Mia Karvonides to issue sanctions.’’
According to The Crimson, Harvard will rely on the “preponderance of the evidence’’ standard, which “favored by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, is generally understood to require more than 50 percent certainty to determine guilt.’’
Sexual harassment will be defined under the university’s new policy as “unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature.’’
A number of Massachusetts higher education institutions are among those listed as being under investigation for Title IX violations. According to the Department of Education the “primary goal of a Title IX investigation is to ensure that the campus is in compliance with federal law, which demands that students are not denied the ability to participate fully in educational and other opportunities due to sex.’’
Activists had pushed for Harvard’s new policy to include an “affirmative consent requirement,’’ meaning that sexual partners would have to “affirmatively communicate their willingness to participate in sexual activity.’’ The new policy does not include such a requirement, according to The Crimson.
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