Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act follows 2010 investigation of response to alleged rape at Bowdoin and other schools
The updated version the Violence Against Women Act that Pres. Obama signed into law on Thursday includes "new requirements for how colleges and universities handle allegations of sexual assault," reports NPR.
The new law — the Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act, which was added to the Violence Against Women Act — clarifies the rights of victims of sexual assault, domestic violence, dating violence or stalking on campus. It gives victims a new ability to appeal an outcome. It also requires schools to inform victims of their rights and options, and to tell them where to get counseling and legal help.
The new law addresses issues raised in NPR's 2010 series of stories, Seeking Justice for Campus Rapes. That series, a joint effort with the nonprofit Center for Public Integrity, revealed that judicial proceedings were often secretive on campuses, and women often faced barriers when they tried to report rape complaints.
The CSVE Act updates the Clery Act, under which Bowdoin regularly publishes campus security reports.
The 2010 investigation included a look at a Bowdoin case in which a baseball player accused of rape (and found guilty of sexual assault, but not rape, by the College) was placed on non-academic suspension.
At times, though, even seemingly stringent sanctions can amount to little. In December 2007, Ariel Brown, then a junior at Bowdoin College, reported being raped by a baseball player in her dorm after an alcohol-soaked party. Two months later, the Bowdoin Sexual Assault and Misconduct Board deemed the student responsible for “the charge of Sexual Assault,” case records show. For Brown, it was little consolation: A school investigation had already dismissed her allegations of forced anal sex, making the finding solely for “an act of oral sex.” (Ariel Brown is a pseudonym to protect her identity.)
During her proceeding, Brown requested that the alleged assailant be suspended. Instead, he received “non-academic suspension” — in effect, social probation. Records show he was “removed from campus for all non-academic pursuits” — no housing, no activities. But Brown later learned Tim Foster, Bowdoin’s dean of students, had made an exception: The athlete could attend home baseball games.  Brown’s mother — a Bowdoin alumnae — remembers complaining to Foster, who relayed that the student had been in his office, crying, because of the penalty. He was allowed to march in the May 2008 graduation; according to records, though, his diploma was held for a year.  Foster declined to comment on Brown’s case, except to stress that “this matter did not involve any finding of rape.” The accused did not respond to several e-mails and phone calls seeking comment.
One of the women interviewed for the Center for Public Integrity investigation — Laura Dunn, a University of Wisconsin alumnae — lobbied Congress to pass the new act, and attended the signing at the White House.
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