Author: Kathleen  E.  O'Toole

Major: Communications

Graduation Year: 2017

Thesis Advisor: Claire Sullivan

Description of Publication: This thesis will examine and analyze the history and campus climate (See Appendix) that led to the implementation of "mandatory reporting" of campus domestic violence and sexual assault (See Appendix) when a student discloses an incident to a faculty or mandated reporter. With this policy implemented, regardless of whether the student discloses this information to another student and a faculty member overhears the exchange, or if the student expresses the incident directly to the staff member, a faculty member is still required to report suspected sexual assault, even if not explicitly stated. This includes statements made in course discussions, as well as within written assignments. This thesis will describe the legal, social and cultural landscape of campus sexual assault, the campus climate and its role in perpetuating sexual assault, mandatory reporting regarding students, as well as potential policies and practices that outside higher institutions have implemented and how the University of Maine may consider adopting these in order to encourage faculty reporting while still complying with federal law and remaining sensitive to the needs of the victim. There is great interest in ensuring the correct college response and level of interest in responding to these reports at universities nationwide, including responses from the faculty here at the University of Maine. As more and more high-profile instances of sexual assault erupt across social media, there is great scrutiny from faculty, students, and parents alike of college responses to these incidents. From the establishment of the Clery Act and the instance of Jeanne Clery in 1986 to the more recent instance of Brock Turner at Yale University in 2015, there has been an enormous backlash towards university responses as well as the response of the law to sexual assaults. Though lacking in discussion and awareness in the past, recent years and aforementioned high-profile cases have called for the United States Department of Education (USDE) and the Office for Civil Rights to further investigate the response of colleges, their policies - or lack thereof - and the rights of their students. Sexual assault will be the umbrella term utilized throughout this thesis, which comes from the most recent terminology issued in the University of Maine policy and listed on the Office of Sexual Assault and Violence Prevention website (OSAVP) as of 2017. Sexual assault is defined as “...an offense that meets the definition of rape, fondling, incest, or statutory rape” (See Appendix) as well as an act that creates a hostile environment for the student. (University of Maine OSAVP, 2017). This is the most inclusive term available for definition by the University of Maine OSAVP that incorporated most, if not all, aspects of rape on campus. Brent Sokolow, Executive Director of the Association of Title IX Administrators, noted in the 2013 Chronicle of Higher Education that "...Title IX is intended to empower victims, not make them into observers… who merely watch from the sidelines, as administrators get carried away with resolving complaints that the victims never made"' (Engle, 2015). Title IX, which has led to the expansion of resources and policies in higher education institutions across the United States - including, potentially, the mandatory reporting policy - urges for greater resources for students who have experienced sexual assault. Yet the main argument against policies such as the mandatory reporting policy is that, in the nationwide push for transparency and protection of campus crime statistics, mandatory reporting can ultimately take away decision-making power from the victims, making them into observers. Only when universities are careful to comply with the intent of Title IX's sexual harassment (See Appendix) provisions, the Clery Act and its expansions, and the Violence Against Women Act - alongside their legal obligations - can meaningful victim support and university legal compliance peacefully coexist (Engle, 2015). This thesis is written with the intention to connect the reader with the history of the University of Maine, its relationship to sexual assault, and the events that led to the creation of the sexual assault reporting policy. It also seeks to relate that timeline to that of the national discussion on sexual assault, the University’s relationship to federal laws and bills, and how, moving forward, we can continue to generate improvements to remove barriers and increase access to resources to sexual assault victims. In doing so, we can better understand how to reach out to victims, provide adequate resources, and continue to improve resource accessibility to students at the University of Maine while preserving the environment of trust between students and mandated reporters.

Location of Publication:

• fogler
• reynolds

URL to Thesis: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/honors/271/