Stanford has taken numerous steps to foster a culture of respect, support students and work toward a campus environment free of sexual violence. Below are a few examples – not comprehensive – of work that has been done over the last five years to advance these goals.
Separate hearing process for sexual violence: In 2010, more than a year before the federal government issued its Title IX "Dear Colleague" letter, Stanford launched a new pilot disciplinary process for cases involving allegations of sexual violence. The process, later approved for ongoing use, was created to recognize the special features of sexual assault cases and their differences from other kinds of student misconduct cases, and thus encourage students to report incidents of sexual assault.
SARA Office: A stand-alone Office of Sexual Assault & Relationship Abuse Education & Response was created in 2011 to provide support and education for the campus community on sexual assault and misconduct, dating/domestic violence, and stalking.
Standard of proof: Stanford adopted the "preponderance of the evidence" standard of proof for Title IX investigations of sexual assault cases immediately after issuance of the federal government's 2011 "Dear Colleague" letter outlining this expectation.
Affirmative consent: Stanford adopted the "affirmative consent" or "yes means yes" standard in university policy in 2012, two years ahead of its becoming state law in California.
Title IX policy: Stanford adopted a policy in 2013 specifically outlining the university's responsibilities under Title IX with respect to prohibited sexual conduct. The Title IX Administrative Policy and Procedures works in concert with other university policies outlined in the campus Administrative Guide.
Title IX Office: Stanford created a dedicated Title IX Office in 2014 to focus on Title IX compliance, initially with one staff member but now with four positions (a coordinator, two investigators and an office manager).
It's On Us: Stanford helped launch this national movement, spearheaded by the federal government, in 2014 with a video featuring Stanford student-athletes addressing sexual assault and respectful behavior toward others. The video is shown at New Student Orientation as part of a series of educational activities for incoming undergraduates.
Expanded education and prevention: Prevention, through education and training, is at the heart of Stanford's efforts to achieve a campus culture free of sexual violence. These activities have expanded in recent years with increased programming at New Student Orientation; required online training for all new undergraduates before arriving on campus; the extension of this online training to all graduate students in 2015-16; and a range of ongoing educational programs for student residences and other small groups on campus addressing key topics such as affirmative consent and bystander intervention. Students have played a key role in developing and presenting such programming.
Task force: The Provost's Task Force on Sexual Assault Policies and Practices was convened in 2014 to recommend ways to enhance Stanford's educational efforts around sexual assault, improve support for those who have experienced sexual violence, and update policies and disciplinary processes for reported cases of sexual assault. The 18-member panel of students, faculty, staff and alumni issued its report in April 2015.
Confidential Support Team: Stanford created a dedicated team of confidential sexual assault counselors, available for consultation 24 hours a day, supplementing other support resources that had previously been available. This team, now called the Confidential Support Team, initially consisted of two full-time employees in 2014-15, and hiring is now under way to create a five-person team in 2015-16, consisting of four counselors and an office manager. The office is reachable at (650) 736-6933 or (650) 725-9955 after hours. In addition, therapists from Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) are providing support for students through drop-in hours at Rogers House.
Campus climate survey: In the spring of 2015 Stanford conducted a campus climate survey, encouraging all undergraduate and graduate students to provide their perspectives on campus safety and answer questions about their experiences with prohibited sexual conduct. The survey had a response rate of 59 percent of Stanford students. Detailed survey results, as well as a copy of the survey instrument itself, were issued in October 2015 and are available to the public on the web. President Hennessy and Provost Etchemendy wrote to the campus community reaffirming their commitment to combatting sexual violence, calling the climate survey results "deeply concerning" and highlighting continuing campus behavior that is "striking and troubling."
Adjudication process: Stanford in November 2015 issued for campus comment a proposed new investigation and adjudication process based on the recommendations of the Provost's Task Force. Among other things, the process calls for a unified investigation and adjudication system, highly trained hearing panels to decide responsibility and sanction, the creation of a new full-time hearing coordinator and new evidentiary specialists to contribute to the thoroughness of the hearing process, the ability of parties in a case to receive up to 6 hours of paid legal assistance if they wish, a requirement of panel unanimity for a finding of responsibility or for sanction where the sanction is expulsion, and expulsion as the expected sanction for sexual assault cases as defined by university policy.
Advisory group: Stanford Law School Dean M. Elizabeth Magill, who co-chaired the Provost's Task Force, will head an advisory group to receive information about implementation of the new adjudication process and work with university staff to assess its success.
