September 12, 2014

Watch Senator Question White House Title IX Expert on Role of Campus Ombuds

On July 24, 2014, Senator Tom Harkin questioned Catherine Lhamon, the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education, during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pension. The Senator asked specifically about the role of Campus Ombuds as a resource for victims of sexual misconduct and revealed a surprising level of knowledge about Ombuds. 

In comparison, the Education Department chief civil rights attorney seemed misinformed. Here's the relevant part of the exchange:

Harkin
[A] lot of times students who are the victims of this [sexual assault or harassment], they just need to know what to do.  They need to have somebody that they can trust to go to, like an ombudsman on a campus that has been trained, that has the qualifications to at least initially be on the side of the person who has been victimized to give them the kind information about where they should go.  How many colleges have that kind of ombudsman?  Do they have them or not?
Lhamon
Well, the Title IX Coordinator can function as an ombudsman and every campus is supposed to have a Title IX person.  So...
Harken
But the Title IX person is in the hierarchy of the school and that’s the problem.  That’s the problem. You need somebody not in the hierarchy of the school.
Seated behind Lhamon, and shaking her head in disagreement was Jane Stapleton, Co-Director of the University of New Hampshire’s Prevention Innovations: Research and Practices for Ending Violence Against Women, who testified later in the hearing.  The exchange occurs at about the 1:14 mark, but someone has created a clip for just this segment. (C-SPAN full video, Ombuds excerpt; UNH News.)

Note: The above transcript does not match the uncorrected closed captioning, which also is available from C-SPAN.

Related posts: Lessons From a Case of Sexual Harassment; Harvard Law Case Study Focuses on Ombuds and the 'Dear Colleague Letter'IOA Takes a Stand on Title IX Issues.

5 comments:

  1. ♥ Harkin and Stapleton!
    -Angry Ombuds

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hold on. Listen again. Doesn't Harkin's "(Ombudsman) . . . to be on the side of the person who has been victimized..." raise a few flags?

    That said...Iowa's Senate team Harkin but especially Grassley have done a great deal for ombuds programs...in their state, at the Red Cross, and in the Federal Government. Grassley's office was one of the few to seriously engage on the issue of ombuds in the Dodd-Frank Bill.

    IOA might wish to look at allllll the Senators who were in the hearing and heard this exchange and assure that they receive relevant information, materials etc. on the ombuds function.

    John W. Zinsser
    Co-founder and Principal Pacifica Human Communications, LLC.
    Lecturer, Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, Columbia University

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know that others have had the same concern. However, I don't share the alarm. In the context of the hearing, in which Lhamon pushed for campuses to ensure more reporting, I though that Harkin had the right idea. Victims need someone to listen to them and empathize rather than immediately initiating an investigation; someone who can help them through the decision making process, without taking over. Given the direction the DOE is heading, this could be characterized as being "initially on the side" of the victim. Moreover, given Harkin's emphasis on structural independence, I still think the exchange was extremely positive for Ombuds.

      Delete
  3. One more point... how many Ombuds called or E-mailed Harkin to support him?
    Only takes a second. Every email is thought to be worth 3000 votes. Every call 10,000.
    If you want to help the field, call or email.
    Phone: 202-224-3254
    http://www.harkin.senate.gov/contact_opinion.cfm

    John W. Zinsser
    Co-founder and Principal Pacifica Human Communications, LLC.
    Lecturer, Negotiation and Conflict Resolution, Columbia University

    ReplyDelete