Chancellor Philip DiStefano is seeking student, faculty and staff feedback in a report on CU’s Title IX progress.
DiStefano sent an e-mail to the CU community Wednesday that invited students and staff to read the Title IX Interim Report based on the work of CU’s Title IX consultant, Nancy Hogshead-Makar. Hogshead-Makar was hired after CU students brought forth allegations of sexual assault against CU football players and recruits.
The CU Title IX Interim Report states that it was formulated as part of a settlement resulting from the lawsuit Simpson v. University of Colorado that called for the creation of Hogshead-Makar’s position.
This lawsuit involved two CU students, Lisa Simpson and Anne Gilmore who alleged that they were sexually assaulted by CU football players and recruits and sued University of Colorado for sexual harassment. They lost in trial court but won in an appeal.
According to the report, data was collected in order to document Hogshead-Makar’s activities as the Title IX Advisor, as well as to describe CU’s efforts to end sexual harassment and assault in compliance with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.
The U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of the Assistant Secretary for Administration and Management states that the Title IX Amendment is a law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs receiving federal financial assistance.
Hogshead-Makar has been working on this report for more than a year in an effort to completely review CU’s gender-related policies.
According to an e-mail sent to students by DiStefano, Hogshead-Makar gathered information for the report from interviews conducted with more then 70 members of the CU community, dialogues with former Chancellor G.P. “Bud” Peterson and DiStefano and a review of campus documents and policies.
Hogshead-Makar says in the released information that the report is in no way final.
“Together, CU and I are still collecting data, reviewing the effectiveness of certain policies, and considering ways to make changes, particularly in light of the fiscal concerns that many colleges and (universities) are currently facing,” Hogshead-Makar said in the report.
To view the Title IX Advisor Interim Report visit Chancellor DiStefano’s Web site.
Contact CU Independent News Budget Editor Emily Zarka at Emily.zarka@colorado.edu.
