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Hunter College Improves its Response to Sexual Assault Allegations 

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Hunter College, the largest school in the City University of New York (CUNY), was investigated by the OCR after a student alleged that the college retaliated against her after she complained of sexual harassment by a professor

On Monday October 31, The U.S. Department of Education announced that the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) reached an agreement with Hunter College, in which the school will implement changes to improve its response to complaints of sexual harassment and sexual violence. The OCR found that Hunter College violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which prohibits sex discrimination in education programs. 

Hunter College, the largest school in the City University of New York (CUNY), was investigated by the OCR after a student alleged that the college retaliated against her after she complained of sexual harassment by a professor. As reported in a press release by the U.S. Department of Education, the OCR probed a dozen cases of sexual harassment reported at the school in the last two years.  The OCR found no evidence that the college retaliated against the complainant. The OCR, however, did find that Hunter College failed to respond equitably and quickly to complaints of sexual harassment and sexual violence, including from the complainant. According to the OCR the school also failed to properly notify students and staff of the nondiscrimination policy under the Title IX. The OCR found that Hunter College, like many other schools, did not yet have an overarching policy on how to handle sexual assault complaints. As a result, the school did not remedy the hostile environment that the complainant and other students were subjected to after speaking up about the sexual harassment or violence. 

Under the agreement, CUNY resolved to amend its grievance procedures for complaints alleging sexual discrimination. The school agreed to provide annual training to all college staff and separately to students so that they can better adhere to Title IX policies. The school vowed to reexamine and take action to remedy all 12 complaints reviewed by the OCR.

According to Generation Progress, current statistics show that one out of five women will be sexually assaulted during their time in college. Historically, less than 5% of people who are sexually assaulted report their assaults. The silence has long been attributed to reasons including shame, fear that they will not be believed, lack of trust in college’s investigative process, and fear of backlash. As per a study by Hollaback! published in 2014 by the Huffington post, 20 percent of college students said that sexual harassment caused an inability to concentrate in class, and 23 percent said that harassment prevented class attendance.

By: Stanley Kornreich

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