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Title IX trouble: Penn State must enforce federal law

Caitlin Lee/Post-Gazette

Title IX trouble: Penn State must enforce federal law

The Department of Education has found serious problems with the university’s response to reports of sexual harassment and misconduct

Jerry Sandusky was convicted back in 2012. That event should have stirred Penn State to high vigilance in protecting its students and employees from sexual misconduct.

According to federal authorities, the message didn’t get through.

The Department of Education found serious problems with the university’s response to reports of sexual harassment and misconduct.

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Unbelievably, Penn State didn’t get it. Same old, same old doesn’t cut it in the wake of the Sandusky scandal. A department official said it was disappointing that so many serious problems remained in the university system.

Penn State must comply with the recommendation of the department’s Office of Civil Rights and implement a resolution agreement the school signed with the office. That agreement requires regular reporting to the OCR on complaints through 2021. The OCR, for its part, must engage in a rigorous follow-up to make sure the university complies.

Penn State’s lethargic and haphazard approach to handling claims under Title IX gives little credence to the idea the school can self-police. Title IX is a federal law which bans sex-based discrimination. It includes requirements that the university investigate and respond to claims of sexual harassment or other sexual misconduct. The law also mandates documentation of the claims, investigations and results of the investigation.

The university got a failing grade on living up to those requirements.

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The department started looking at Penn State’s compliance in 2014. Things haven’t gotten better. In the 2019-20 school year, before COVID-19 effectively ended the year early, the federal report showed Penn State failed to ensure fair and appropriate investigation of complaints, had no procedure for complaints alleging discrimination by employees and had no specific time frames to complete investigations.

Worse, the school didn’t notify the parties of the outcomes of an investigation. It all went into a black hole. Record keeping was shoddy, the education department said.

The university says it will do better. Penn State should have been doing better since the conviction of Jerry Sandusky for his monstrous crimes.

During this down time for Penn State, it’s time for some soul-searching. More important, it’s time for action to make sure the law is followed going forward. There is a difference -- this time, the school won’t be left to police itself.

First Published: April 27, 2020, 8:59 a.m.

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The Nittany Lion statue on Penn State's main campus.  (Caitlin Lee/Post-Gazette)
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