A previously omitted letter detailing the findings of the five-year investigation into sexual assault at the University by the U.S. Education Department Office for Civil Rights was released, according to a report from the Washington Post Monday.
The 39-page letter, obtained by the Washington Post in a Freedom of Information Act request, was sent to University President Teresa Sullivan Aug. 31, 2015 and retracted Sept. 1. The revised letter was sent to Sullivan Sept. 19 and was reduced to 26 pages.
The original letter refers to specific statistics about possible sexual harassment in its summary.
“For the time period investigated [2008 through fall 2014], OCR reviewed 158 reports of possible sexual harassment, including allegations of rape and gang rape,” the original letter reads. “OCR found that 41.1 percent of these reports were not handled in a prompt and equitable manner.”
The 158 cases put the University “on notice, at a minimum, that a hostile environment may have existed,” the original letter said in its conclusion.
Specific figures about cases were removed in the summary and conclusion of the revised letter. The revised letter also limits the span of reports by two years and focuses on 50 reports of possible sexual harassment from the 2008-2009 and 2011-12 academic years.
The original letter also includes details from 13 student reports of sexual harassment not filed as formal or informal complaints.
“As illustrated by the representative examples below, without determining what occurred in the situations giving rise to reports of possible sexual misconduct against both students and employees where a complaint was never filed, OCR found that the University did not meet its obligation under Title IX to respond promptly and equitably,” the original letter reads.
The OCR writes about a student who reported a rape to his resident advisor and a lack of documentation to follow up with the case in “Student Report #6.”
In “Student Report #10,” which relates to a sexual assault associated with an unnamed fraternity, the OCR wrote “the University took no action because the accused student had graduated” and “there is no indication that the University made any effort to follow up with the fraternity or address the safety of the University community.”
The 13 examples do not appear in the revised letter; instead, the revised letter describes more broadly cases of sexual assault and misconduct.
“The documentation in these cases does not reflect that the University made a decision concerning whether each of these cases, or a combination of the cases, created the need for broad response by the University to address the issue of sexual harassment and violence in the campus community,” the revised letter reads.
Both letters, however, conclude the University violated Title IX regulations from the 2008-2009 school year through the 2011-12 year.
Assistant Secretary of Education Catherine Lhamon withdrew the Aug. 31 letter on Sept. 4, and the original letter contained factual inaccuracies, according to a statement from the University.
“We are profoundly disappointed that the Department of Education publicly released a factually inaccurate letter that it previously withdrew due to an incomplete review of available information,” the statement read. “This letter does not represent the final outcome of the Office for Civil Rights compliance review.”
The University was involved in ongoing discussions with the OCR throughout the compliance review process, providing information and clarification to “correct factual errors and better inform” the OCR as the Department of Education brought an end to the investigation, according to the statement.
"The University remains focused on implementing substantive initiatives aimed at providing a safe learning and living environment for every member of its community,” the statement read.
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