New Doubts about OSU Buckeyes Title IX Remain

With Jon Waters back in the news over his new role at Heidelberg College and OSU’s latest attempt to toss out the law suit he brought against them, sexual violence and Title IX at OSU is back in the news.

Title IX is a federal law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender in educational institutions that receive federal funding. This includes sexual assault.

In March 2016, an NBC affiliate in Columbus reported that OSU’s physics department also was under the Title IX spotlight.  

http://nbc4i.com/2016/03/07/several-title-ix-complaints-filed-involving-osu-physics-faculty/

The allegations emerged after an email sent to the physics faculty by department chairman, Dr. James Beatty, was leaked to the media.

Beatty’s email states:

“As those of you who attended recent Title IX training know, we are required to report allegations of possible violations to one of a few places on campus. A report to one’s supervisor does not suffice. Since failure to report is a serious matter, reports are to be made without investigating the allegations on our own, since we are not qualified to do so. Please remember that allegations are just that, and do not necessarily indicate a violation has occurred.”

In regarding to the email leak, Ohio State spokesman Chris Davey issued a statement indicating that none of the allegations involved sexual assault.

Then new details emerged. On February 25, 2014, the physics department held an educational seminar titled “Sexual Violence in Higher Education”. An advertisement for the event can be found at: http://www.physics.ohio-state.edu/SWIP/Resources.html. The talk was presented at the SWIP Sexual Assault Education Night. The event was hosted by SWIP with the help of the Student Advocacy Center and the Student Wellness Center.

A student who attended the seminar and asked not to be named indicated that the seminar was in response to an alleged sexual assault involving physics department personnel. He indicated that his physics department professors actively instructed their classes to ignore speculation on the details of the assault that were circulating within the department.

When asked to comment on the seminar, Dr. Beatty stated: “The education seminar was student organized.  We have a very active women’s group, and they have organized a number of seminars on subjects of concern to women, including implicit bias and micro-aggressions as well as the seminar you noted.  Sexual assault prevention has been a campus-wide issue at many universities and our women’s group hosted a seminar by the people on campus in charge of prevention efforts as part of their series.”

After checking carefully, however, we have not been able to find any other examples of this “series” hosted by other OSU department. We checked with OSU’s Title IX coordinator Kellie Brennan. She stated in an email response “The University conducts educational sessions upon request for university departments throughout the year, though I cannot provide an exact number”

In the light of the most recent Title IX allegations the question remains: If the physics department had such a positive and proactive policy in promoting sexual violence awareness and prevention, why did they explicitly hide it from view in their recent statements about Title IX violations?