Over the past several weeks, Bowdoin students were invited to voice their opinions on proposed changes to the College’s sexual misconduct policy in order to improve compliance with the federal government’s Title IX requirements.
Title IX is a section of the Higher Education Amendments of 1972 that prohibits sex discrimination at educational institutions that receive federal funding.
Benje Douglas, Bowdoin’s new director of gender violence prevention and education, has been working closely with students to craft these changes.
“We have taken recommendations from students and put them back into the policy. Now we are reviewing it with the College council and then other members of the professional staff,” said Douglas.
According to Douglas, the changes fall under three main categories: revisions of formal policy and the panel review process for misconduct cases, confidentiality, and the addition of a gender-based violence category. The gender-based violence policy responds to federal requirements to specifically target dating violence, domestic violence and stalking.
These types of misconduct were were covered under the previous policy, but there was no formal pathway for reporting sexual assault. The policy changes dictate a more specific process under provisions of Title IX that is proportional to the seriousness, according to Douglas.
In his new position, Douglas not only creates new policies, but also counsels students who have been victims of sexual misconduct and works with student organizations like Safe Space, Bowdoin Men Against Sexual Violence (BMASV), and V-Day on educational programming.
Douglas expressed enthusiasm for working on sexual assault prevention at Bowdoin.
“There were already so many powerful things already going on campus, that, as a professional, made it exciting to come to a place that was already doing a really solid job on these issues.”
Leah Alper ’17, co-leader of Bowdoin’s chapter of V-Day, an international organization to stop violence towards women, said that sexual misconduct continues to be a pressing issue on campus.
“Sexual violence is often not talked about in our society, and it’s also talked about in one image,” she said. “There is a very stereotypical idea of what a sexual assault is, and that’s not really true, People who have experienced sexual assault—it changes them—but not always in a negative way.”
Alper believes the proposed changes greatly to Bowdoin’s commitment to the issue. She said that although the College is doing a satisfactory job in regards to sexual violence, there is always room for improvement.
Alper also said she supports an evolving policy that is not a one-size-fits-all approach. She believes the changes will bring more clarity to sexual misconduct victims, giving them more power and the ability to act and take control of their situations.
Alper added that she believes the College can improve its response to sexual misconduct by making sure students are aware of the numerous resources that are available to them.
No official changes to the policy have been made yet. Douglas said that instead of having the administration unilaterally change the policy, he wants to give all students the chance to share input before the new policy is finalized.