Updated Statement from the College

To our students and alumni, please know that we are listening and we are acting. We understand that only actions—not statements—will demonstrate our commitment to student safety. We apologize that our previous statement did not reflect the empathy and accountability we need to move forward in supporting survivors of sexual assault and interpersonal violence. Our campus must be a safe place for survivors to come forward and seek justice. We are working to learn, evolve, and make it so. 

We pledge to better communicate our journey toward improvement. We will launch a website that will provide a timeline capturing the evolution of the College’s sexual misconduct policies and practices. We are looking forward this fall to the final report of the Presidential Working Group, which represents a year-long effort to improve our sexual misconduct policies and practices. We will also make available educational resources providing context for the federal law as it relates to these matters, our campus processes and policies. And in an effort to increase transparency while respecting privacy laws, we plan to share an annual summary of sexual misconduct reports at the College, as well as the resolution of those cases.

Sincerely,

President Lee Pelton, Vice President for Equity and Social Justice Sylvia Spears, and Vice President and Dean of Campus Life Jim Hoppe