Most local colleges 'significantly' comply with sex assault law: NY

Four of seven mid-Hudson Valley colleges still have steps to take to be fully compliant with a state law aimed at preventing sexual assault on campus.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo recently announced the results of a statewide review of compliance under the "Enough is Enough" law, enacted in 2015 to combat sexual assault and dating violence at colleges. 

"The majority of colleges and universities are significantly compliant with the law, although many present concerns that must be addressed in order to be in full compliance," the governor's office said in a news release. 

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A review of 244 higher education institutions in New York found:

• About 39 percent of schools statewide are "compliant" with Enough is Enough, which means they have met or exceeded requirements. Locally, Bard College, the Culinary Institute of America and SUNY New Paltz were deemed compliant. 
• Nearly half of the schools are "significantly compliant" with the law, which means they've met most, but not all, of the requirements. Those schools will have to submit corrective action plans to the state. Dutchess Community College, Marist College, Mount Saint Mary College and Vassar College were found to be significantly compliant. 
• About 12 percent of school are "non-compliant," which means they've failed to meet many of the law's requirements and substantial corrective action is needed. No local schools were deemed non-compliant.

The state's review results came in the aftermath of U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announcing plans to roll back Obama-era Title IX guidance on sexual assault and harassment. Title IX is a federal law that prohibits discrimination in education.

On Friday, Devos scrapped a six-year-old guidance intended to better protect victims of sexual misconduct on college campuses, replacing it with an interim rule she says is meant to strike a more appropriate balance between those accused of sexual misdeeds and their accusers, the USA Today Network reported.

But regardless of the federal government's actions, "this state and this administration will continue to stand with and advocate for survivors, and we will not go backwards in the fight against sexual assault,” Cuomo said.

Issues and concerns

Enough is Enough legislation requires all New York colleges to adopt a set of comprehensive procedures and guidelines, including a uniform definition of affirmative consent, a statewide amnesty policy, and expanded access to law enforcement, according to the state. 

In general, concerns that still need to be addressed in "significantly compliant" schools — statewide and locally — fall into categories such as training consistency, lack of adequate services available to students, and missing, inconsistent, or contradictory information, among other things.

"The Mount is committed to responding to these issues immediately to become fully compliant," said Matthew Frey, a Mount Saint Mary spokesman. "The proactive steps taken by all area colleges will go a long way in keeping the Hudson Valley and beyond safe." 

Marist College officials "appreciate New York state’s vigilance on important matters of safety and look forward to clarifying the details of their assessment procedure," said school spokeswoman Elisabeth Tavarez.

Vassar College intends "to reach out to the state to obtain further clarification on areas identified as lacking," said Rachel Pereira, the school's Title IX coordinator and director of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action. "One factor seems to have been that there were portions of the survey that we completed but that seem to have been marked as not completed."

Vassar contacted the state "to ask for more details to understand the discrepancy and to see if we may need to submit our answers in a different format," Pereira added. In the meantime, the college "will continue to increase our prevention efforts and do all that we can to ensure that students receive the assistance they rightfully deserve on our campus."

At DCC, "the results of the review were very positive; the only actual issue was one of documentation," said Ellen Gambino, the college's vice president of academic affairs and student services. 

One issue "involved documentation of training for student leaders and student athletes," Gambino said. "We’ve already moved to online training that provides completion tracking."     

The other involved information that couldn't be located on the community college's website, Gambino added. It was due to a dead website link; the college launched its new website in July and the URL had changed.

Colleges that were found to be not fully compliant with the law have 30 days to submit an action plan. Within 60 days, the schools will have to submit documentation proving they're fully compliant.

Incidents

In 2015, nearly 9,300 cases of forcible sex offenses, rape (including statutory rape) and fondling were reported at colleges — on campuses, in dorms, on other university- or school organization-owned properties, and on campus-adjacent public properties, according to the U.S. Department of Education.

Of those offenses, 716 occurred at New York institutions, 54 of them at local colleges.

The Town of Poughkeepsie-based Vassar College had the highest local number of reported incidents: 13 cases of rape and seven of fondling, defined as the touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, without the consent of the victim.

Based on enrollment for 2015, that means that for every 1,000 Vassar students, five reported a rape and nearly three reported a case of fondling.

But that doesn't mean Vassar actually has more sexual violence than other colleges.

Higher numbers of reported incidents could suggest that some schools have built the necessary systems to welcome reports, support survivors, and disclose accurate statistics — and others have not, according to the American Association of University Women.

"We place a high priority on outreach and education and have a system in place that encourages reporting, which we believe is the reason these numbers may be higher than elsewhere," said Pereira, Vassar's Title IX coordinator.

Mount Saint Mary, located in Newburgh, had the lowest reported number of incidents: one case of rape and one case of fondling.

The National Institute of Justice estimated that in college, 19 percent of women and 6 percent of men will have been victims of sexual assault by the time they complete their undergraduate career.  It was also found that women in college are at higher risk of being assaulted than their counterparts who do not attend college.

And many experts believe that rape and other forms of sexual assault are among the most underreported crimes, the Institute said.

A cultural issue

Alexandria Wojcik is a SUNY New Paltz alumnus who recently helped co-organize a march against rape culture near her former school.

"Sexual assault and rape culture permeate all of our lives and affect us all," Wojcik said. "I’ve always felt like colleges tend to treat underage drinking and smoking weed as more serious crimes than sexual assault. I think colleges could do a lot more to help foster the type of environment in which survivors feel more comfortable reporting sexual assaults, and taking these allegations more seriously would be a step in the right direction." 

Wojcik said she's grateful to live in New York at a time when the federal government "is actively seeking to roll back Title IX guidelines that protect students’ rights to go to schools that are free from sexual violence and harassment. 

"Once I get past my whole 'too little, too late' visceral response, I’m a big fan of Enough is Enough," Wojcik said. "Establishing and acknowledging an uniform definition of affirmative consent is essential to protecting students while combating some of the critical problems at the heart of rape culture."

Efforts underway

The statewide review was conducted to ensure that all colleges fulfill their obligations under the law to protect students from sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence and stalking, and are taking every measure to properly investigate allegations of sexual assault on campus, the governor's office said.

To follow up on the review, which was preliminary and based on information submitted by the colleges, the state Office of Campus Safety and other agencies will begin a second phase of review. That phase will focus on addressing shortfalls in colleges' procedures when investigating and judging reports of sexual assault.  

Officials at local colleges cited efforts that are already underway. 

Mount Saint Mary, for instance, was recently awarded a $300,000 U.S. Department of Justice grant to expand and enhance its sexual assault prevention and awareness programs, Frey said. The college will use the money to create a coordinated community response team with police and other local agencies.

The community response team "will establish a comprehensive, cutting-edge program" to serve the entire college, said interim college President David Kennett. "These resources will enable the Mount to maintain the best practice in our services to the student body, heighten awareness and prevention of violence, and focus on advocacy."

Dutchess Community is part of a consortium – the Sexual Assault Response Team – comprised of school representatives, law enforcement and local resource providers.

“The team participates in student orientation sessions and other programs that enhance communication about these important issues,” said Gambino, the college vice president. "We also provide bystander intervention training to equip students with the tools they need to protect one another from relationship violence."

Nina Schutzman: nschutzman@poughkeepsiejournal.com, 845-451-4518, Twitter: @pojonschutzman

Area colleges

Bard College, Annandale – compliant

Enrollment: 2,332

Rape: 6

Fondling: 2

Incest: 0

Statutory rape: 0

Culinary Institute of America, Hyde Park – compliant 

Enrollment: 2,859

Rape: 4

Fondling: 2

Incest: 0

Statutory rape: 0

Dutchess Community College, Poughkeepsie – significantly compliant

Enrollment: 9,546

Rape: 4

Fondling: 1

Incest: 0

Statutory rape: 2

Marist College, Poughkeepsie – significantly compliant

Enrollment: 6,474

Rape: 4

Fondling: 0

Incest: 0

Statutory rape: 0

Mount Saint Mary College, Newburgh – significantly compliant

Enrollment: 2,508

Rape: 1

Fondling: 1

Incest: 0

Statutory rape: 0

SUNY New Paltz, New Paltz – compliant

Enrollment: 7,751

Rape: 6

Fondling: 1

Incest: 0

Statutory rape: 0

Vassar College, Poughkeepsie – significantly compliant

Enrollment: 2,435

Rape: 13

Fondling: 7

Incest: 0

Statutory rape: 0

SOURCE: 2015 U.S. Department of Education, Office of Postsecondary Education, Campus Safety and Security survey