The Obama administration this week launched efforts at dealing with sexual assault on college campuses nationwide, and it's not just public service announcements. These also include investigations with real teeth as the Department of Education is going after a number of major universities for failure to handle these cases correctly.
The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights released a list of 55 colleges being investigated, a move that the agency expects will encourage dialogue and coax schools to toughen up on how they deal with sexual violence.
Among the schools on the list are: Michigan State University, Arizona State University, Princeton University, Catholic University of America, Florida State University and Swarthmore College.
“We are making this list available in an effort to bring more transparency to our enforcement work and to foster better public awareness of civil rights,” Catherine Lhamon, the Education Department’s assistant secretary for civil rights, said in a statement.
The investigations are being conducted under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which ensures that students are not denied, for reasons of gender, the ability to fully participate in educational and other opportunities at schools that receive federal funds.
The comprehensive list released on Thursday is the first of its kind. The move is part of the administration’s efforts to curb sexual harassment and sexual violence, especially in colleges, and to push schools to do more to prevent and punish on assaults.
Following a three-month study conducted by a task force established by President Barack Obama to address the issue, the White House earlier this week launched a website, NotAlone.gov, to help victims find help and report crimes.
According to the White House, one in five women, and a smaller number of men, are sexually assaulted during their college years, with cases often going unreported.
One in five is a real problem, a serious epidemic that has to be stopped. I'm glad to see the Department of Education stepping in because it's painfully clear that universities are more inclined to sweep these incidents under the rug than deal with them. It's a promising start.
I'd disagree with the idea that politics doesn't belong in science fiction - lots of excellent science fiction has been written on the "if this goes on" model. Robert Heinlein's "Revolt in 2100", in which a religious theocracy has taken over the US Government, is one such. If you consider Gulliver's Travels a precursor of science fiction, that's another.
ReplyDeleteIt depends on the politics. Good fiction needs empathy and as Heinlein got more and more libertarian he got more and more solipsist. From Stranger in a Strange Land onwards as preachy and terrible as Ayn Rand.
ReplyDeleteYes. Stranger in a Strange Land was the first Heinlein I could not finish. Made it about halfway through and gave up.
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