Updated August 8, 2020
By Joe Fisher, WRAL reporter
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill intends to ask the United States Supreme Court to review a 4-3 decision by the Supreme Court of North Carolina that ordered the school to release the names of students found responsible and sanctioned for sexual misconduct.
After a nearly four-year legal fight, UNC released a list of 15 names in response to a request for all sanctions issued for sexual misconduct since 2007.
The release of the records comes three months after the state Supreme Court sided with a coalition of North Carolina media organizations that sued the university after it denied a 2016 public records request for the information. The coalition includes Capitol Broadcasting Co., WRAL’s parent company, as well as UNC-Chapel Hill’s student newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel.
“We, along with many advocates for survivors of sexual assault and interpersonal violence, still believe the release of these records will inevitably lead to an increased risk of the identification of survivors and key witnesses and could discourage others from participating in the Title IX process,” said Joel Curran, vice chancellor of University Communications.
“Universities should not be forced to release student records that could identify sexual assault survivors,” Curran said.
Annie Clark, a former student who has spent seven years advocating for more transparency about sexual assaults on campus, says the release of the names is a step in the right direction.
“We have a lot of survivor advocates and survivors themselves who want these names released, who want to have that vindication,” Clark said. “But you also have a lot of folks who don’t want that, who feel like, if their perpetrator’s or alleged perpetrator’s name is released, that it puts them in danger.”
Clark was one of five women who filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education in 2013 accusing UNC-Chapel Hill of underreporting sexual assault cases for 2010 in an annual report to the federal government on campus crime. It also alleged that campus officials allowed a hostile environment for students reporting sexual assault.
“It is very surprising that, over the course of years, that there are only 15 people who have been found responsible that the university released,” Clark said. “What we know is that one in four or one in five women, depending on the statistics used, are sexually assaulted before they graduate, drop out or leave college in another way.”
Clark wants UNC-Chapel Hill and other universities to release even more information, including how many total assaults are reported, how many are investigated and how many result in sanctions.
“There is a lot further to go,” she said. “I think we need to look beyond this one story of releasing names and look more towards why are people still doing, why are people are still getting away with and where are those aggregate numbers and where are people falling through the cracks.”
On UNC-Chapel Hill’s website for its Equal Opportunity Compliance office, sexual assault victims are encouraged to report criminal activity to law enforcement; however, accusers can choose to pursue a case through a university process that’s been kept completely confidential.
As for its internal process, Curran said, “The University’s Title IX policy and process are mandated by the federal government and are separate and distinct from any criminal process.”
“Sanctions are tailored to the unique facts and circumstances of each report, and the University’s Equal Opportunity and Compliance Office investigators and hearing panelists consider a variety of factors when determining the appropriate sanction,” said Leslie Minton, associate director of media relations. “Those factors are listed in the procedures associated with the Policy on Prohibited Discrimination, Harassment and Related Misconduct. This is an educational process focused on maximizing equal access to educational programs and activities and the safety and well-being of our students and campus community.
WRAL News has a team of reporters gathering more information on the students named and intends to share more information.
Source: https://www.wral.com/unc-wants-scotus-to-review-ruling-mandating-release-of-sexual-assault-sanctions/19225371/
