The U.S. Department of Education announced today that its Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has reached an  agreement with Wesley College in Dover, Delaware after finding the college in  violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 as it applies to  sexual violence and sexual harassment. OCR determined that students  accused of sexual misconduct had their Title IX rights violated by Wesley in  the course of its investigation of the case.

Title IX prohibits sex discrimination in education  programs and activities receiving federal financial assistance.

“With this agreement, Wesley College undertakes a strong commitment to  equitably address sexual violence and sexual harassment for all parties,  including both accused students as well as accusers, consistent with the  fairness mandate of Title IX,” said Catherine E.  Lhamon, assistant secretary for civil rights. “I look forward to  continuing to work with Wesley College to support its efforts to ensure student  safety, including through promoting processes all students can believe in to  protect their rights.”

OCR’s Title IX probe was  based on a complaint filed on behalf of an accused student asserting that  Wesley failed to fully investigate a report of sexual misconduct against the  accused student.  The complaint also  alleged that the student was wrongly charged and expelled within seven days in  April 2015, just prior to his anticipated graduation.  Three other students were also accused of the  same conduct and received the same punishment.

OCR  found that Wesley College violated Title IX by failing to provide accused students with essential procedural protections  and also by not adhering to its safeguards provided for in its own disciplinary  policies and procedures.  OCR found that  the accused student about whom the complaint was filed was not provided a full  opportunity to respond to the charges, rebut the allegations, or defend himself  at his hearing.  Among the violations:   

- While a school must assess whether the accused       may present a danger or threat to the safety of self and others, an       interim suspension was imposed the same day as the college received the       report against the student even though the college had not interviewed the       student. 
- The student was not interviewed during the       investigation of the complaint. 
- The student was provided the wrong policies and       procedures by the college and reported that he went to the hearing       expecting to participate in an initial conference.
- The student did not receive a copy of, or       information contained in, the incident report prior to the hearing.
- Accused students were not provided a full       opportunity to provide witnesses and other evidence at the hearing.  

Also, for the 2013-2015 case  files reviewed, OCR determined that college violated Title IX in failing to  provide procedural safeguards and equitable investigations for other accused  students, including several incidents in which the college provided no evidence  that accused students were interviewed before receiving interim suspensions,  some on the same day.  

OCR also had concerns that  interim measures, such as counseling and adjustments to academic schedules, and  notice of the written outcome of the complaint were not provided to both  parties; and that the time allowed may have been too short in some investigations  for the gathering of all pertinent evidence. 

In addition to these  violations specific to accused students, OCR found the college failed to:

- Provide  a Notice of Non-Discrimination identifying the individual at the college  responsible for investigating and resolving Title IX complaints.
- Widely  publicize its Notice of Non-Discrimination.   And,
- Adopt  Title IX policies and procedures that:
Provide adequate notice to students and  employees regarding where complaints may be filed.
Designate reasonably prompt timeframes  for all stages of the grievance process. And, 
Provide notice of its deputy Title IX  coordinators.

OCR also identified concerns  regarding whether the college maintained all records from its investigation of  the allegations regarding the student, adequately trained its Title IX  coordinator and Title IX Team, and properly designated confidential reporters  who are not obligated to report possible sexual violence to school officials.

Under the  resolution agreement, Wesley College agreed to take actions to remedy the Title  IX violations, including the following:

- Determine whether  it engaged in a sufficient level of inquiry prior to imposing interim  suspensions upon the student and the other three accused students and provide  specific remedial actions as warranted.
- Complete its  investigation of the incident involving the student and the other three accused  in compliance with Title IX.
- Re-investigate or address the investigative deficiencies OCR       identified for specific case files from 2013 to 2015 and provide remedies       as warranted.
- Provide  OCR with copies of incident files of alleged sexual harassment or sexual  assault at the college for the 2017-2018 and 2018-19 academic years.
- Publish  an anti-harassment statement and revise its Title IX grievance procedures, and  ensure that the responsibilities of the Title IX coordinator and deputy  coordinators are consistent with Title IX.  
- Provide  training to ensure that all members of the college community – including  students, faculty, administrators, and other staff – are trained regularly on  issues related to the sexual harassment and violence requirements of Title IX.  
- Enhance  outreach to and feedback from students, including by conducting climate surveys  with students on campus to assess the effectiveness of steps taken by the  college towards providing a safe campus environment.
- Convene  a Title IX committee, composed of staff and students, to develop a plan for  educating students and employees about sexual harassment and assault. 

Read the Resolution Letter PDF (280.36K) | Read the Resolution Agreement PDF (115.44K)

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