Speak up during the Title IX investigation

Time and again, students complain of their inability to influence the administration, that when it comes to issues like sexual assault and Greek life, no one listens to what we’re saying. Sometimes that may be true, and administrators can often have agendas that do not fully match our own. But when the student life administrators give us an opportunity to make our voices heard, we should seize on it. The recent panels on sexual violence and the reports of the alcohol strategy group demonstrated that students are not showing up. Attendance was lackluster.

Luckily for those who didn’t make those panels, you have another chance coming up soon. Next week, from Tuesday, March 31 to Thursday, April 2, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) will visit campus as part of their investigation into Title IX violations at Hopkins. They will be holding focus groups throughout the days to talk with students, faculty, staff and specific sub-groups such as female athletes, student organization leaders or members of Greek life. The purpose of the focus groups is so we can express our thoughts on sexual violence and sexual harassment at Hopkins and so that the representatives from the OCR can answer our questions as well. The representatives are open for individual meetings and walk-ins for those who do not want to speak in a public forum.

The OCR will be camped out in Levering Hall for three days, and the Editorial Board strongly encourages anyone who has an opinion to meet with them. If you have thoughts on the culture of sexual violence here, or a specific instance you want to make them aware of, or a view on the way the administration has been handling these incidents, go and speak up. Here is an opportunity to make sure that your perspective and experiences as a student will be valued and will be appreciated.

Though it may seem like every college around is under investigation, this is by no means a trivial event. The Department of Education is investigating Hopkins, and to do that, they need to learn about what happens here — they need to learn it from the students.