Colleges & Sexual Assault

"When a student is alleged to have sexually assaulted another student, the assault can be reported to the police or brought to the attention of the college (or both). For legal (and moral) reasons, colleges should not ignore such reports. While colleges vary, it is common practice for colleges to handle allegations of sexual assault like academic misconduct hearings: a hearing is held with a panel composed of faculty members and administrators."

"Since the panel is not a court of law, it cannot impose criminal or civil penalties as an actual court could. Rather, the panel typically decides whether the accused student should be subject to disciplinary action, with the highest penalty usually being expulsion. As might be imagined, there are some obvious problems with this approach."

"The first is a practical problem: while many schools do have their own police forces, faculty and administrators are generally not trained to investigate and judge sexual assaults. In my own case, I am a philosophy professor, not a detective, lawyer, or CSI professional. I would, if I was assigned to such a panel, do my best-just as a detective or lawyer somehow assigned to teach my class would presumably do their best."

"There seem to be two main solutions to this problem. One, which seems the most sensible, would be for colleges to cede authority over these crimes to the legal system. That is, the role of the college would be to assist in reporting the crime to the police. Naturally, the college can also have an important role in providing support. There is, however, the concern that such crimes are not always properly addressed by the authorities."

When a student is accused of sexually assaulting another student, the matter can be reported to police, brought to the college, or both. Colleges often handle these allegations through disciplinary hearings similar to academic misconduct cases, using panels of faculty and administrators that can impose sanctions such as expulsion but cannot deliver criminal or civil penalties. This approach raises concerns because faculty and administrators are not trained to investigate or judge sexual assaults. One solution is to transfer authority to the legal system, with colleges assisting reporting and providing support, while recognizing that authorities may sometimes fail to address crimes properly. Another solution is to ensure that college personnel handling incidents receive appropriate training.

Read at A Philosopher's Blog