Minot State University Under Investigation For Handling Of Sexual Violence Cases
According to the Washington Post, Minot State University is under investigation by the US Department of Education for Title IX violations related to the handling of sexual violence and harassment complaints.
From the Post:
The Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights is examining complaints it received from the nation’s college campuses and those it discovered as part of its regular efforts to see if schools are in compliance with the federal law known as Title IX, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender at schools that receive federal funding. The department said this is the first comprehensive look at which campuses are under review for possible violations of the law’s requirements for the handling of sexual violence, but the new list does not include details about exactly what the department is examining at each school.
Federal officials are stressing that an institution’s appearance on this list isn’t necessarily an indication of any wrong-doing.
North Dakota has had one relatively high profile incident of a botched sexual assault case, but it wasn’t at Minot State University.
The University of North Dakota expelled student Caleb Warner after he was accused of rape by another student. Warner was ultimately cleared of all charges by law enforcement, but UND wouldn’t allow him to re-enroll until years later, and only then after mounting criticism from the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) and a negative mention in a Wall Street Journal article.
This investigation into Minot State comes at a bad time for the university system, which has been plagued by high profile controversy and scandal even as university system officials try to convince the public to vote down a constitutional amendment reforming the State Board of Higher Education.
