Resource: Chronicle of Higher Education, Title IX Tracker: University of California at Berkeley

Collects documents from Department of Education OCR Title IX investigation. Campus Context: “Sexual assault gained attention on the campus in the spring of 2013 when several students filed a federal complaint under the campus-crime-reporting law known as the Clery Act.

In February 2014, 31 current and former students filed a federal complaint under Title IX alleging that the university had acted with “deliberate indifference” in handling their reports of sexual harassment and assault. They said administrators had discouraged them from formally reporting the incidents, neglected to update them on any investigation, and failed to punish their assailants, according to Al Jazeera America.

Berkeley was one of the initial 55 colleges under investigation in this wave of federal enforcement as announced by the Education Department in May 2014.

Some alleged victims who signed on to the federal complaints have spoken publicly about their experience. One student whose assailant was found responsible and expelled but appealed that sanction publicly named him, and a group distributed fliers with his name and photo, encouraging people to keep him off the campus. Students have protested the institution’s handling of sexual assault. In June 2015, three women sued the institution for allegedly violating federal and state antidiscrimination laws in mishandling their reports of sexual assault.

The institution has affirmed its commitment to victims of sexual assault; collected resources online; formed a Title IX Compliance Advisory Committee to review policies and prevention efforts; created new positions, including confidential survivor advocate, to support victims; and held a conference on campus sexual assault.
In early 2014, the University of California system announced a new policy against sexual harassment and violence that expanded training and education, increased reporting requirements, and provided broader protections for victims.

In June 2014, a state audit of four public colleges including Berkeley concluded that they did not adequately train faculty and staff members to respond to students’ reports of sexual violence.

In September 2014, California’s governor, Jerry Brown, signed an "affirmative consent" law requiring colleges and universities that receive state funds to define consent in students’ sexual encounters in terms of "yes means yes" rather than the traditional "no means no." But in October 2015, the governor vetoed legislation that would have required colleges to adopt uniform sexual-assault policies requiring specific punishments.

Also in October 2015, Geoffrey W. Marcy, a prominent astronomer at the university who was the subject of numerous complaints of sexual harassment, resigned from his position after a nationwide uproar over light sanctions despite repeated violations."