Correction: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Linda Bubar’s title as president of the National Women’s Political Caucus. She is president of the local L.A. chapter of the National Women’s Political Caucus. The article also incorrectly stated that under the Clery Act, all colleges and universities are required by law to report any issue of discrimination and harassment.
Two University of California and two Cal State University campuses will be audited in November for allegedly mishandling sexual assault complaints.
Three of the four public universities remain unnamed. Only UC Berkeley has been identified as one of the campuses to be audited.
Cal State Long Beach is still waiting for notification from the CSU Chancellor’s Office as to whether CSULB will be audited as well, according to Larisa Hamada, CSULB’s Title IX coordinator and director of equity and diversity.
Lindsey Bubar, president of the National Women’s Political Caucus’ L.A chapter, was the first shed light on the supposed mishandling.
“Many of our universities are under-reporting, encouraging survivors not to report, harassing survivors … and leaving these women and men … feeling unsafe on their own campus,” Bubar said at a Joint Legislative Audit Committee meeting in August.
Assemblyman Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood) said at the meeting he requested the audit after Bubar brought the issue to his attention.
“Sexual violence is the elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about,” Rendon read from his request at the meeting. “This … is an attempt to shine light on the issue.”
Under the Clery Act, all colleges and universities are required by law to report any issue of sexual assault. Title IX, a federal gender equality law, also prohibits sexual discrimination in any federally funded education programs or activities and sets out specific steps on how schools should respond in case of a sexual assault.
UC Berkeley student Aryle Butler, who testified at the meeting, said the administration on campus told her that filing a complaint would be invasive and unnecessary.
She said she was also told things like, “Are you sure it was assault?” and, “Well, your assailant has already graduated.”
Rendon said that loopholes in policy language enable administrators to work around procedural responsibilities and instead prioritize their institution’s reputation over the welfare of students.
Students from other universities filed similar allegations, according to an article from the Los Angeles Times. Two University of Southern California students filed a complaint alleging that more than 100 USC students had problems with how their university handled reports of sexual assault.
In addition, 50 people from Occidental College, a campus of about 2,000 students, joined the federal civil rights complaint, according to the article.
State Auditor Elaine Howle said Rendon’s request asks to look at a variety of aspects, such as schools’ policies and procedures as well as how they educate students on awareness and prevention of sexual harassment and violence on college campuses.
Howle said the audit is scheduled to begin in November and estimated to last up to seven months.