<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=1UR7uQ_1GqV5Kl500" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=1UR7uQ_1GqV5Kl500" width="2252" height="921" ><figcaption>Ezio Severens, Creative Director</figcaption></figure>On Sept. 18, The Cornell Daily Sun, an independent, student-run newspaper, published an article detailing a lawsuit by a former Cornell University student against the university. The woman, now commonly referred to as Jane Doe, alleged that she was gang-raped in 2024 by several Chi Phi fraternity members after being coerced into taking drugs. According to The Cornell Daily Sun, Jane Doe originally made a report on Nov. 8, 2024. From there, a Title IX investigation began in January 2025; the Ithaca Police Department was not involved in the case and did not hear about the incident until the Cornell Daily Sun published its article.A Title IX coordinator has been required in institutions of higher education since 1975, when President Richard Nixon signed it into law. Its main goal was to prohibit discrimination based on sex in any institution receiving federal financial assistance. In 2011, the Department of Education released letters expanding the requirements of Title IX and informing schools on how to better address cases.Eckerd’s Title IX coordinator is Michelle Espinosa, who is also the coordinator of Section 504 and Equal Opportunity. All of these duties are to ensure that students are not discriminated against for who they are.“It means that I am responsible for responding to and facilitating the resolution process for incidents of alleged sexual harassment … I’m also responsible for responding to and facilitating resolutions to incidents of other types of discrimination and harassment based on other protected classes,” said Espinosa. Espinosa is also responsible for ensuring that Eckerd College complies with these laws’ requirements. She ensures that training, education and policies are all compliant with any laws related to them.For cases related to sexual assault, there are several avenues that a complainant has within Eckerd College. These avenues are unrelated to contacting the police department, but Espinosa can also assist in filing a police report if that is what the complainant wishes to do.“We will always facilitate (contacting the police) for them if they want our help with that. We will invite St. Pete police to come to campus to do their interview; we will help a student understand how to get to the police department if they’d rather just go there. We make them aware of off-campus resources in terms of victim advocacy because the campus victim advocate wouldn’t help them with the criminal process,” said Espinosa. There are three avenues a complainant can take when filing a Title IX complaint through Eckerd College. The simplest of the three is called supportive measures; these include changing residence halls or class schedules or filing a no-contact agreement against the person. These do not require a formal complaint and can be done without any signing of documents.To file a formal complaint, the complainant must sign a document detailing how they want the college to address the incident. There are two ways the complaint can go: an informal resolution or a formal resolution.The informal resolution is a “type of mediation,” according to Espinosa. Neither of the parties is required to speak directly to each other, but instead they have a third-party facilitator who discusses with both parties what they want to happen going forward. Both parties are allowed to ask things of each other.“Examples might be: a complainant might ask that a respondent never live in the same residence hall with them now or in the future. The respondent might agree to that; the respondent might actually ask, ‘I want the complainant to drop out of this club or organization that we’re both in so that we don’t have to spend that time together. And the complainant could agree to that,” said Espinosa. The formal resolution process is more complicated than the informal process. A third-party investigator is hired by Eckerd College to investigate the case. This includes meeting with both parties, interviewing witnesses, collecting text messages, social media posts, photos, and anything that could be considered evidence in the case.After the evidence has been collected, both parties may review the evidence, respond to it, make corrections, and add information as needed for clarification. After this, there is a live hearing that is typically conducted over Zoom.“The hearing is designed for the decision maker to be able to decide whether or not the respondent violated college policy,” said Espinosa.The main question of the hearing is whether the respondent actually violated the Title IX policy in any of its categories. This includes things such as sexual harassment, rape, fondling, stalking and relationship violence. The Cornell case has impacted Espinosa’s work as the Title IX coordinator, as it has for many other coordinators across the country. “Any time a major incident happens in any industry or practice or field of profession, it does have a ripple effect across the country. And I can assure you that colleges and universities all over the country are reviewing their policies, looking at their procedures, doing a deep dive into ‘are we on track? Are we in compliance with what we are required to do?’”Espinosa worries that some students may be triggered by the story from Cornell, both by their own stories as well as any they may have heard from friends and family. She also imagines that some may think the Title IX process is “not useful or that the process is too hard or not worth it.” Espinosa wants students to know that they can come to her seeking advice without taking the next step in the process. “It remains very much in the control of the complainant. Coming to me is to primarily seek support and to understand what their options are, so they’re not left feeling like they have no options,” said Espinosa.For students who may be affected by the Cornell case, Espinosa encourages students to seek out help from the Counseling Center. Students can also ask for off-campus resources from the Counseling Center if they prefer that. She also encourages students to talk to friends about how they're feeling.“I think student conversations and discussion about it can help others understand the important nature of this and just how triggering it can be,” said Espinosa.</div></body>

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On Sept. 18, The Cornell Daily Sun, an independent, student-run newspaper, published an article detailing a lawsuit by a former Cornell University student against the university. The woman, now commonly referred to as Jane Doe, alleged that she was gang-raped in 2024 by several Chi Phi fraternity members after being coerced into taking drugs.

Cornell puts Title IX process in spotlight at Eckerd College

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On Sept. 18, The Cornell Daily Sun, an independent, student-run newspaper, published an article detailing a lawsuit by a former Cornell University student 

Cornell puts Title IX process in spotlight at Eckerd College

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