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Bard College facing three federal complaints over sexual assault

Jan 21, 2016 12:02 am

Tyler Kingkade is reporting at the Huffington Post two federal complaints were filed last month alleging Bard College violated gender equity law. The Title IX complaints were filed shortly before the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights began investigating the private institution for potentially mishandling a separate case of sexual violence on campus. Two of the three complaints filed claimed the school did not follow its own policy when disciplining students accused of sexual assault and it did not adequately provide available resources to victims. The third complaint was from current students who say Bard President Leon Botstein made "victim-blaming comments" that undercut the trust in having a proper response to a sexual assault report at the college. One of the women told the Huffington Post, "I'd like the investigation to put pressure on Bard to make its policies more consistent and transparent. I also think President Botstein's role needs to be re-evaluated." The college did not respond to request for comment. Read the full story at the Huffington Post.