NORTHAMPTON — A U.S. Education Department proposal that could limit how colleges and universities respond to off-campus sexual misconduct incidents has stoked anxiety among many students and staff at the Five Colleges.
Under current federal guidelines, colleges and universities are encouraged to investigate sexual assaults that occur both on and off-campus. But under the new proposal, schools would only need to address sexual misconduct that occurs within the institution’s “programs or activities,” which could limit their ability to investigate off-campus incidents.
The proposal was introduced in November by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos as part of broader Title IX revisions. According to DeVos, the new regulations will bring increased rights to students accused of sexual misconduct.
At Smith College campus on Thursday, sophomore Basira Daqiq voiced opposition to the rule.
“It’s funny that people think in something like this case we should put a limitation, rather than doing as much as you can,” Daqiq said. “It’s ridiculous.”
Miranda Catsambas, a senior at Smith, said that colleges and universities should investigate all sexual misconduct incidents between students, including off-campus sexual assaults.
“If I’m thinking of what would be best for the greatest number of people, I think colleges investigating off-campus reports would be best, because those students have to come back to the college,” Catsambas said.
Catsambas also noted that “off-campus services like the police can be scarier for students” than on-campus resources.
Kaitlin Lam, a senior at Mount Holyoke, said that she believes universities should investigate sexual misconduct that occurs off-campus during the school year, but expressed that a larger issue is that many cases of sexual misconduct go unreported.
“I don’t feel like (the rule) would really affect students that much, because not a lot of Mount Holyoke students report assaults,” Lam said.
Still, said freshman Julia Smith, “When you agree to enroll yourself in the school, it’s part of the school’s responsibility to take care of students.” She added that many sexual assaults take place at off-campus gatherings, such as parties.
Fellow freshman Rebekah Apicello agreed that universities should take responsibility for their students, “even if they’re not on their property.”
“Morally, it feels like the right thing to do,” Apicello said.
According to the Associated Press, school leaders have disagreed over whether the proposal will prohibit universities from investigating cases that fall outside of new regulations, or if schools can still choose to investigate these incidents. The proposal also contains discrepancies on this matter.
All of the Five Colleges have participated in a response from the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities in Massachusetts, or AICUM, addressing proposed changes to Title IX regulations, although UMass is not listed on the letterhead because it does not belong to the organization, which is limited to independent universities.
In the 17-page response, AICUM wrote that the member institutions are “concerned that many aspects of the proposed regulations may undermine rather than advance Title IX’s very purpose.”
Another section of the AICUM response said that the university is “deeply concerned about the uncertainty of the proposed rule’s application to off-campus incidents and study-abroad programs involving students or employees of the institution.”
The response added that off-campus incidents in locations such as private housing, conference or internship sites, bars, and restaurants can create “a hostile environment for students and employees on campus — in the classroom and the workplace.”
The statement also noted that with a high number of colleges in areas such as Pioneer Valley, universities should not be prevented from addressing sexual misconduct that occurs between students and employees from different schools.
Amy Hunter, Title IX coordinator at Smith, said in a statement sent to the Gazette that the college disagrees “with some of the proposed changes because they are antithetical to the very purpose of Title IX, an anti-discrimination statute.”
“Some of the proposed regulations undermine hard-fought progress toward combating sexual violence,” Hunter added.
Hunter said that Smith “will continue to respond to reports of sexual misconduct in a timely and equitable manner” and create a comfortable atmosphere for victims to seek support.
Public comment for the proposal will be reopened on Friday, following a technical issue that prevented some people from submitting feedback. The initial comment period drew the highest response in department history, according to the Associated Press, with 104,000 responses.
Jacquelyn Voghel can be reached at jvoghel@gazettenet.com.