Valerie Simons speaks as the new director of institutional equity and compliance about CU’s roles in Title IX compliance in the University Memorial Center on Tuesday Oct. 7, in Boulder, Colorado. (Gray Bender/CU Independent)
On Wednesday, Valerie Simons, an education and civil rights lawyer, spoke on campus about Title IX and campus climate. Simons, who is also the campus’ newest Title IX coordinator, presented a resolution to combat discrimination and sexual assault on campus.
She outlined pivotal changes in campus conduct, focusing on the elimination of statutes of limitations and the lack of bystander intervention in cases of harassment or discrimination. Simons made it clear that by strengthening bystander intervention, the entire burden of filing a report would not fall wholly on the student or victim, but on the community as a whole.
“How can we make sure students are supported?” she asked. “We have to make sure resources are made available and that people are available to support these students. And, above all, we must learn from previous situations and move forward.”
Simons said, “Retaliation from harassment of professors may also become a concern, if the student does file a claim against them. Students can play out situations with confidential sources to bridge into investigation. Services are available, and students should know that.”
Christina Gonzales, CU’s dean of students, confidently supported Simons. She said the key to creating a comfortable and content campus climate lies in making all students feel inclusive.
“Student Affairs is creating places to report all major and minor incidents, creating teams of professionals from the LGBTQ Resource Center to campus counselors,” Gonzales said.
Simons ended with a simple statement: Not everything will be solved immediately, and change is a learning process for both the Office of Discrimination and Harassment and the Office of Victim Assistance.
“We are continually hiring staff to address full-time issues,” Simons said. “The chancellor and staff are really working on these efforts. We are working on these issues. We take campus climate very seriously, and we’re learning as we go along.”
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Rafi Rahman at rafi.rahman@colorado.edu
