Report by the Yale College Sexual Harassment Grievance Board to Dean Peter Salovey
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Review of the Handling of Reports from Yale Undergraduates Regarding Sexual Assault The entire report is available for download in PDF format from the following Web site: April 27, 2006 On September 14th, Dean Peter Salovey met with the Sexual Harassment Grievance Board and requested that we carry out a thorough review of the current system at Yale for responding to complaints of sexual assault and that we consider possible changes to the present system to make it more transparent and helpful to students bringing complaints. Having conducted our review, we have two principal recommendations. In order to improve sexual assault responses on campus, we recommend that Yale create a sexual assault position under the auspices of YUHS, which would oversee a website, hotline, and educational programs, as well as provide support and advice to students. Additionally, in order to increase awareness and prevention of sexual assault at Yale, we recommend that the university should enhance its tracking of reported sexual assault cases and issue an annual, internal report to the Yale community During the fall of 2005 semester, the Board collected extensive comparative information from ten sister institutions (UC Berkeley, Brown, Chicago, Columbia, Dartmouth, Harvard, MIT, Penn, Princeton, and Stanford), which described their procedures and their organizational structure for dealing with sexual assault. This material helped us evaluate Yale's own programs, and a summary of "best practices" is attached to this report as an appendix. |
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During the fall semester, the Board also met with a variety of interested undergraduate organizations - including Consent, RSVP, Walden, and YCC - and with a variety of relevant University administrators, such as Jill Cutler (Yale College Executive Committee), Dr. Carole Goldberg (Clinical Psychologist, YUHS), Caroline Hendel (Assoc. General Counsel), Martha Highsmith (Deputy Secretary, Yale Univ.), James Perrotti (Chief, University Police), Susan Sawyer (Assoc. General Counsel), and Dr. Lorraine Siggins (Chief Psychiatrist, YUHS).
Sexual Assault Resource Coordinator
One specific comparison that the Board examined in detail was the contrast between systems that could be characterized as centralized or focused (with limited but well defined entry points) vs. systems which could be characterized as more diffuse with a variety of diverse (but not always transparent) entry points. In this spectrum, Yale's system has evolved (not necessarily deliberately) to be closer to the diffuse model, and the key issue for the Board in this review has been to examine whether Yale's current system is optimal or whether, for example, steps should be taken to make it somewhat more centralized and transparent while still retaining the diversity of its entry points.
It was the unanimous consensus of the Board that in dealing with the diversity of the Yale undergraduate student body, there was a strong advantage in providing a wide variety of entry points for students to use in reporting such a personal trauma as sexual assault. Residential College Masters and Deans, Yale College Deans, peers, religious counselors, the members of the SHGB, and even faculty members may provide the most comfortable approach for a specific student. That choice should be left to the assaulted student.
It also seemed clear to the Board, on the basis of comments from various student groups, that there was a need to have a better defined, more visible, centralized position that could serve as an easily accessed entry point for students and that could complement other, already existing resources. The Board recognizes definite advantages, as far as anonymity is concerned, for locating this service physically in a satellite facility, outside of YUHS. Nonetheless, the most obvious administrative location for such a contact would seem to be under the auspices of YUHS. We recommend this person coordinate a dedicated 24-hour hotline for immediate assistance, as well as oversee follow-up programs and help to direct the student to the other available resources, both at Yale and externally. This coordinator could work directly with the assaulted student and would also be a valuable resource for someone such as a Residential College Dean, for example, in assisting a specific student who has come to him or her.
The coordinator should have a budget that would allow this person to also be actively involved with campus education as part of a preemptive program to help reduce the incidence of sexual assault within the Yale community. This can come from the liaison coordinating with student groups to educate students about risk reduction strategies, as well as to promote a continuing campus discussion of issues of sexual assault through targeted educational programs.
Recognizing that students instinctively turn to the internet as a source of information, the Board also feels strongly that another aspect to making Yale's response to sexual assault more visible and accessible is the implementation of an easily navigated website, which would allow the student to understand and compare the procedures and options available within the University. (Other schools have used the internet as a way to reach students, as UC Berkeley's online prevention course illustrates.) Links to this website should be readily visible and accessible from the Yale College home page. The Board is working actively with YUHS and the University Police to ensure that this webpage will be available by the beginning of the fall, 2006 semester.
Reporting Sexual Assault Statistics
The Board also examined the issue of reporting statistics related to sexual assaults and other sexual harassment incidents together with the related issue of the definitions of what incidents belong in those reports. The Board was initially concerned with the narrowness of the federal reporting definitions, which do not take into account assaults that take place off campus. The Board proposes that there also be an annual internal report that includes all incidents of interest to the Yale community, regardless of their specific geographical location. The Office of the Secretary and the Office of the General Counsel, which are responsible for responding to the federal reporting requirements, have been very supportive and encouraging in discussions about issuing a complementary report to the University community that details all sexual assaults that happen each year without regard to whether or not they meet the federal reporting requirements.
On this basis, each fall the Board will collect and distribute to the University community (via the Yale Bulletin and Calendar and the internet) a compilation of all reports of sexual assault and sexual harassment against Yale College undergraduates. This compilation will include all cases that have come to the Board's attention during the previous academic year - either directly or through our active solicitation of such data through all other counselor-entry-points such as, for example, Residential College Deans or the centralized counselors connected with YUHS as described above. In this report, every effort will be made to protect the anonymity of the individuals involved in the complaint and to avoid the double counting of incidents.
It is recognized that probably the biggest problem associated with the under-reporting of such incidents is the hesitancy of students to come forward with a complaint. Some of this hesitancy will likely be eroded once this more visible system is actively in place. Additionally, it is our hope and expectation that the transparency of the system - that the new sexual assault liaison, website, and internal reporting of sexual assault statistics - will not only help assaulted students access support but also foster a community that is deeply aware and responsive to issues of sexual assault.
Yale College Sexual Harassment Grievance Board
Lisa Driscoll (YUHS)
Thomas McDow (Dean, BR)
Janet Pan (Electrical Engineering)
Peter Parker (Physics), Convenor
Alexandra Suich (TD, '08)
Betty Trachtenberg (Assoc.Dean, YC)
Dara Young (SM '07)
Appendix
In assessing Yale's policies and programs on sexual harassment, the Sexual Harassment Grievance Board (SHGB) found it useful to look at the resources and services that other universities offer to their students. The following four schools had several features to their sexual assault programs that the SHGB found particularly noteworthy.
University of California, Berkeley (UCB):
• A detailed and well-organized website that showcases the abundant resources available on campus. The SHGB noted the importance of this online dimension, as universities might have resources, but students will only use those services if they are clearly advertised on a website. Additionally, this website provides resources for both graduate and undergraduate students.
• University-sponsored training for campus groups. This includes prevention activities for fraternities and sororities and self-defense classes for the entire campus, which are run by both the Office of Student Life and the Housing Office. The SHGB remarked on the effect of having these activities conducted through the university (which makes the issues appear as a priority to the campus) and would like to see Yale have similar events and offerings.
• A Sexual Harassment/Sexual Assault Resource Specialist at the Gender and Equity Resource Center who provides information, crisis intervention, referrals, and support through the complaint process. This person does not conduct counseling and serves only as a resource for advocacy and information. It is this type of job - an adviser, not counselor - that Yale would like to integrate into its own offerings on campus.
• An appendix of services - both on and off-campus - that provide advising, medical, and legal services. The detail and breadth of the outlined offerings are impressive. Additionally, the services outlined are both for survivors of sexual assault and those accused of sexual assault, the latter of which is absent from Yale's programs.
• An outline of the steps for meditation and filing sexual harassment suits.
• A message from a UCB Chancellor, urging students to complete a training program on sexual assault and expressing support for UCB's sexual harassment policies and programs. The SHGB found this letter to be noteworthy, as it publicly demonstrated official university support for prevention of sexual assault.
• An online prevention course, which allows students to scroll through dozens of slides on sexual assault's definitions, details, and outcomes. The course - sponsored by UCB and designed by New Media Learning - provides a wonderful tool for prevention and the ability for students to resolve questions and uncertainties about sexual assault on campus without having to go in person to speak with someone. The SHGB would like for Yale to look into purchasing this course for Yale's website and students.
Barnard/Columbia:
• A Rape Crisis/Anti-Violence Support Center, which provides peer counseling, advocacy, and prevention activities to the entire community. Counseling can take place over the phone or in person, and Crisis Intervention staff members are available 24 hours a day to meet with students after they have contacted hospital or police authorities.
• A list of Frequently Asked Questions, such as "Can I contact a lawyer" or "How do I file a complaint?" One of the primary goals of the SHGB is that complaint processes be more transparent to those questioning filing a complaint, and having a question-and-answer section of the website illuminates the complex and often confusing procedures.
• University resolutions that state the university's commitment to continue the university policy on sexual misconduct and to improve education and training.
Brown University:
• A website that that outlines definitions and disciplinary outcomes of sexual assault that is well laid-out and concise. Also found on the website are statistics on rape and sexual assault in college and questions and responses to frequently asked questions (for example: "What happens during the medical exam?").
• A list of resources and links to services available both in the university and outside of it.
• The Advocates Program, like UCB's staff person, helps student understand the process of filing claims and their various options.
• A telephone line where students can call anonymously and get referrals for psychological services. At the suggestion of the SHGB, Yale University Health Services is planning to have a similar phone-line dedicated to the needs and questions of sexual assault survivors.
Stanford:
• A guide on "Sexual Harassment and Consensual Sexual or Romantic Relationships," which states clearly that the President reviewed and approved the policies on sexual harassment. This guide outlines university policy, procedure, and definitions of sexual harassment. Of particular note to Yale is Stanford's policy on recordkeeping, which is outlined in this online guide. Stanford's policy states that numbers of sexual harassment reports will be tracked and reported to the President's office in addition to the Federal government.
• An online video on sexual harassment, which allows students to learn about prevention and sexual harassment's definitions in their own rooms.
• A detailed list of confidential resources. Included in this list is an individual from almost every academic department who has agreed to serve as a "Sexual Harassment Policy Adviser" and has received appropriate training. The email address and phone number of every Policy Adviser is listed, and the program includes members from all departments, including athletics.
