As sexual assault incidents on college campuses continue to gain statewide attention, local legislators and college officials in Texas are working to make sure universities are as safe as possible for students.

“The Baylor University sexual assault scandal has shined a bright and much-needed spotlight on the way college campuses across the country handle sexual assault accusations,” said Ron Trowbridge, Lone Star College System trustee. “What it has revealed is another troubling problem: Title IX sexual assault provisions addressing protections for the accused are seriously flawed and must be revised.”

State Sen. Joan Huffman, R-Houston, filed Senate Bill 576 on Jan. 23 to penalize staff and student leaders who do not report incidents of campus sexual assault. The bill would charge a university employee with a Class A or Class B misdemeanor if the individual is found guilty of intending to conceal the incident.

“We’re actually not looking at the accuser in this bill … this is about reporting incidences,” Huffman said.

Class B misdemeanors are punishable by up to a $2,000 fine or 180 days in jail, and Class A misdemeanors are punishable by up to a $4,000 fine or one year in jail.

If a student who was assaulted tells another person affiliated with the university, that individual is required to report it to the Title IX Coordinator, should the bill become law. If a university staff member does not report it, they could be charged with a Class B misdemeanor.

The bill passed through the Senate April 4. It still must be passed through the House and signed by the governor to become law.

Local college procedures

Sam Houston State University and LSCS provide several resources for victims of sexual assault and are holding several upcoming events in April for Sexual Assault Awareness Month, which is observed nationwide.

“A lot of times people are sexually assaulted or they’re friends with somebody that has been sexually assaulted, but they don’t know where to go or who to talk to or anything,” said Georgi McNease, SHSU senior criminal justice major and SAAM coordinator.

At LSCS, all faculty, staff and administrators must be trained on sexual assault policies, Trowbridge said. In any sexual assault case, the college requires written statements from the accuser, the accused and student services, he said.

“Our final step is exemplary—one that I think all colleges should emulate,” Trowbridge said. “We hand adjudication to an outside retired judge, seeking to make resolution as accurate and as fair as possible.”

SHSU offers resources, such as the counseling center, student health center, the Title IX office and the police department for students needing to report an assault.

Under Title IX policies in place by the U.S. Department of Education, all federally-funded schools must have procedures for handling complaints of sexual discrimination, harassment or violence. In cases of sexual violence, schools are prohibited from encouraging or allowing mediation, rather than a formal hearing of the complaint.

Trowbridge said he believes Title IX policies need revising because they still leave room for error.

“Title IX, as it now stands, permits the possibility of inaccurate, unfair judgment and action against an individual charged with alleged sexual assault,” Trowbridge said. “It can wrongly ruin lives. The policy and procedures must be revised to handle sexual assault that indeed does happen too often on college campuses.”

Additional reporting by Emily Donaldson