Universities step up battle on sex assaults

As college students return to campuses, many Michigan universities have revamped their sexual assault policies and stepped up training and education in response to public pressure and federal scrutiny.

The work at universities across the state attempts to reach students, faculty and staff.

At the University of Michigan, officials also have tried to engage parents — and asked them to talk to their children about sex.

During the past summer’s orientation for incoming freshmen, UM called on parents to discuss a broad range of relationship issues, including the critical concept of consent to sex.

“We encouraged parents to have really explicit conversations about consent — that consent is clear and unambiguous agreement expressed in outwardly and mutually understandable words or actions to engage in specific activity,” said Holly Rider-Milkovich, director of the UM Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center. “How are you going to give that? What are you going to look for? What are you going to do if you have been drinking alcohol?

“Parents are part of the puzzle,” Rider-Milkovich continued. “There will be no single effort that is the single bullet. But it’s many, many efforts in different ways over a long period of time.”

The effort at UM is one of many underway as colleges and universities work to create a new culture on campus, aimed at preventing sexual assault, and change their response to students who report violations.

At Michigan State University, officials have tightened the school’s policy on how complaints are handled and begun requiring all students to take an interactive video course aimed at reducing sexual assault cases.

The initiatives come as survivors have grown increasingly vocal, publicly pressing their complaints that university officials ignored or mishandled sexual assault allegations.

The federal government became involved in 2011, investigating more than 100 schools across the country. In Michigan, UM, MSU, Grand Valley State University and Alma College have been under investigation by the Office for Civil Rights.

Only MSU has had its case resolved. The investigation at UM continues because it began with federal officials looking at three cases and has since expanded to 180 cases involving thousands of documents.

In 2014, the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault issued its first report, “Not Alone,” which said 1-in-5 women will be sexually assaulted in college. President Barack Obama also spearheaded a campaign focusing on the issue.

This past June, the U.S. Department of Education updated its guide to colleges that outlines ways for officials to make campuses safe, including reporting requirements that allow victims to decide whether to inform law enforcement of an alleged assault.

In recent months, many universities have adopted new sexual assault policies, set up new offices to handle complaints and ramped up educational efforts to help student navigate the college experience outside of academics.

Besides giving parents conversation starters to talk to them about consent, one of the most significant changes in UM’s sexual assault policy is the expansion in its scope of coverage, said Rider-Milkovich.

Previously, students who wished to hold another student accountable went through a process that was driven by the complainant, and required a higher evidentiary standard of clear and convincing evidence for students who wanted to hold another accountable.

Under UM’s new policy, the university uses a lower evidentiary standard, preponderance of evidence, when handling such allegations.

“That is a significant change that students uniformly addressed they were interested in seeing,” Rider-Milkovich said.

University officials also review and investigate every allegation brought to their attention, even third-party complaints.

“The person who experienced the harm in the past would have needed to bring forward the complaint and played a significant role in having that complaint move forward, and that has changed,” Rider-Milkovich said.

MSU also is working to change its campus climate.

Its policy is informed by all the legal guidance and feedback that came through the Office for Civil Rights process, said Jessica Norris, MSU’s Title IX and Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator.

The biggest change is how MSU investigates and responds to complaints. The policy now includes specific time frames for investigation, additional information about consent and incapacitation and more details regarding the reporting and investigation process.

Additionally, officials are unveiling training programs, campaigns, committees and a new website primarily directed at students.

MSU introduced its interactive video course this year, aiming at reducing sexual assault on college campuses. It features young people who says their generation’s attitude about the issue comes down to two words: “Not anymore.”

All 48,000-plus MSU students will be required to take the course or risk denial into a portal where they get their grades, transcripts and appointments with counselors

“Our goal is to effect culture change,” Norris said. “By offering a more robust training and education, it is among the things we can do to influence that.”

Other areas where MSU’s policy changed include more coverage for domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking, as well as expanded definitions for what constitutes sexual violence, consent, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking.

MSU also expanded confidential reporting options for survivors to seek support without initiating a university investigation, Norris said, along with amnesty provisions for alcohol/drug use and possession.

The amnesty provision, she said, is meant to encourage assault victims to come forward even if they were using drugs or engaging in underage drinking.

“The addition of an amnesty provision was important in order to remove potential barriers to survivors reporting where they feared they may be in violation of university policies relating to alcohol/drug use and possession,” Norris said.

Like many other universities, Grand Valley State University updated its sexual assault policy to include expanded definitions and wider reporting obligations.

“Our policy is really aimed at supporting our collective responsibility in maintaining a safe, and respectful educational living and working environment,” said Theresa Rowland, Grand Valley’s Title IX coordinator and equity officer.

Grand Valley also is expanding its online training modules for the campus community, continuing with its bystander intervention programs and providing a more centralized response to sexual assault.

Rowland concluded: “Our hope is students nationally continue to report, people become more engaged bystanders and we shift our culture.”

KKozlowski@detroitnews.com