Feds investigate four NY colleges for mishandling sexual assaults
Jessica Bakeman
ALBANY—Four New York colleges are under federal investigation for possibly mishandling sexual assault cases.
Two New York public colleges and two private schools are on a list of 55 higher education institutions with Title IX violations released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Education. Advocacy groups have long pushed for more transparency about sexual assaults on college campuses, and the department's unprecedented release of the list follows a White House campaign to reduce on-campus violence and improve colleges' response to such incidents.
SUNY Binghamton, CUNY Hunter College, Sarah Lawrence College and Hobart and William Smith Colleges are cited as having possibly violated Title IX, a landmark law that prohibits gender discrimination at academic institutions that receive federal assistance.
“We hope this increased transparency will spur community dialogue about this important issue,” assistant secretary for civil rights Catherine Lhamon said in a statement. “I also want to make it clear that a college or university's appearance on this list and being the subject of a Title IX investigation in no way indicates at this stage that the college or university is violating or has violated the law.”
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