Resource: Chronicle of Higher Education, Title IX Tracker: University of Kansas

Collects documents from Department of Education OCR Title IX investigation. Campus Context: "Sexual assault gained attention on the campus in September 2014, when a female student who had filed a federal complaint against the institution for allegedly mishandling her report of sexual assault spoke publicly about her experience. The local district attorney hadn’t pressed charges, The Huffington Post reported, while the university had found the accused student responsible for nonconsensual sex, put him on probation, banned him from university housing, and ordered him to write a reflection paper and seek counseling. The female student appealed those sanctions as too lenient, but an administrator dismissed the appeal, according to The Huffington Post, saying that the addition of community service would 'strictly be punitive,' and the student conduct process 'is intended to be educational.'

In the spring of 2016, the Lawrence Journal-World reported that the university was facing a pair of lawsuits from a student and a former student who both said that they had been raped by the same football player. They accused the Kansas administration of failing to act according to Title IX's requirements. The university has said in response to both complaints that it would not comment on individual investigations, but that it works quickly to resolve reported assaults and denies suggestions to the contrary. The Kansas City Star reported in September 2016 that the university had found the football player responsible for violating its sexual-misconduct policy, and expelled him. Students have protested the institution’s handling of sexual assault. A group called the September Siblings circulated a petition denouncing the administration for 'failing to protect, support, and seek justice for victims of rape and sexual assault' and demanding that 'students be involved in overhauling the campus' sexual assault policies.' The group also warned prospective students against enrolling and promoted the Twitter hashtag #agreatplacetobeunsafe. The institution has affirmed its commitment to victims of sexual assault, collected resources online, created a Sexual Assault Prevention and Education Center, and formed a task force, adopting many of its recommendations."