On Tuesday, October 29, the Title IX Lead Team released its report on Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Response for the 2018-19 year.

The report is published annually to keep the Carleton community informed about reports of sexual misconduct, as well as to address sexual misconduct prevention and response initiatives. According to the report, “The Title IX Lead Team provides ongoing oversight of sexual misconduct issues on campus and stays current on national trends and federal mandates and legislations.”

The report stated that there were 117 Community Concern Forms (CCFs) filed related to sexual misconduct during the 2018-19 academic year. This is the highest number of reports of this nature to be filed in the past five years; the second highest came during the 2015-16 year with 113. Of the 117 CCFs, eight incidents involved faculty or staff and five involved visitors of the college. Ninety-two of the reports went through an informal resolution, meaning the complainant chose not to pursue an investigation.

Only three of the complaints went through a formal resolution, in which the Title IX Coordinator asked the college’s investigator to pursue an investigation and to prepare a written investigative report. In all three of these cases, a policy violation was found. The college also issued 12 no-contact orders during this past academic year.

The report also included information on the demographics of reporters. 55% were made by students, 35% by staff, 7% by faculty, 5% anonymously, and 3% by Security. Of the 92 student cases, 41% pertained to sexual assault, 20% pertained to sexual harassment and 14% pertained to stalking.

In addition, the report reviewed the college’s on-campus education and prevention programs offered during the 2018-19 academic year, including the CarlTalk on consent and healthy relationships given during New Student Week, Sexual Assault Prevention for Undergraduates, an online program for incoming students, and Green Dot, a 6-hour bystander intervention training program. The report noted that “In the third year of the campus-wide rollout of the Green Dot Bystander Intervention program, 211 students participated in eight sessions of the 6-hour training, bringing the number of students trained since 2015 to 524.”

“I’m grateful that we have the opportunity to share data and information about this important work on a regular basis in a way that is accessible to the entire campus community,” said Sexual Violence Prevention Coordinator Nora Peterson. “I’m especially eager to hear feedback from students on their ideas on how to build additional violence prevention programming here at Carleton,” Peterson continued. “Students can reach out to me directly with their ideas or to schedule a time to meet.”