The federal government is investigating Knox College and 54 other colleges and universities for their handling of sexual violence and harassment complaints.
In anews release issued Thursday, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights said, “Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in all education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance.
“In the past, Department officials confirmed individual Title IX investigations at institutions, but today's list is the first comprehensive look at which campuses are under review by OCR for possible violations of the law's requirements around sexual violence.”
Knox Chief Communication Officer Megan Scott said the college has updated policies and procedures on its website, created new web and print materials for distribution around campus, and formed a Title IX team with a deputy coordinator and a task force on sexual assault.
“There have been a lot of programs and new initiatives that have been put into place to address the issue of sexual misconduct and sexual assault on our campus,” said Scott.
The education department’s Office for Civil Rights will visit the Knox campus on May 19.
Knox College is not alone. The federal government is investigating 54 other schools accused of not properly handling complaints about sexual violence.
Those schools include U-Conn, Florida State, Ohio State, Michigan, Michigan State, and the University of Southern California, as well as Harvard, College of William and Mary, and Amherst College.
Knox College and the University of Chicago are the only schools on the list from Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri.
