Colleges Under Sexual Assault Investigations

Photo: Stock Connection/Rex/REX USA.

This week has seen a whirlwind of sexual assault headlines. On Tuesday, the Obama administration released new guidelines for dealing with sexual assault cases on college campuses. Vice President Joe Biden gave a lengthy, impassioned speech on the subject — and starred alongside a bunch of Hollywood's leading men in a splashy anti-assault PSA. Today brings an even bigger step in the right direction: The Department of Education has released a list of the 55 colleges currently under investigation for mishandling sexual assault cases under Title IX.

Specifically, the DOE's Office for Civil Rights is looking at whether, in dealing with specific sexual assault claims, these colleges violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. That clause "prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in all education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance." According to the DOE, these investigations are meant to ensure that "students are not denied the ability to participate fully in educational and other opportunities due to sex."

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The investigations originated in complaints by sexual assault survivors who claimed their schools did not respond adequately to their allegations and instead favored the men who were accused. If a school is found to be in violation of Title IX, its administration must come to a resolution with the DOE; this involves a binding agreement that forces the school to change its policies or its staff.

Importantly, this marks the first time the DOE has released the names of institutions that are simply being investigated for Title IX violations — in the past, the policy has been to withhold names until resolutions are reached. This change comes after intense pressure from members of congress and assault survivors advocating for increased transparency.

The full list of colleges is below, in alphabetical order by state. Is your school on it?

Arizona State University
Butte-Glen Community College
Occidental College
University of California-Berkeley
University of Southern California
Regis University
University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Colorado at Denver
University of Denver
University of Connecticut
Catholic University of America
Florida State University
Emory University
University of Hawaii at Manoa
University of Idaho
Knox College
University of Chicago
Indiana University- Bloomington
Vincennes University
Amherst College
Boston University
Emerson College
Harvard College
Harvard Law School
University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Frostberg State University
Michigan State University
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Guilford College
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Minot State University
Dartmouth College
Princeton University
CUNY Hunter College
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Sarah Lawrence College
SUNY Binghamton
Denison University
Ohio State University
Wittenberg University
Oklahoma State University
Carngie Mellon University
Franklin and Marshall College
Pennsylvania State University
Swarthmore College
Temple University
Vanderbilt University
Southern Methodist University
The University of Texas-Pan American
College of William and Mary
University of Virginia
Washington State University
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Bethany College
West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine