NEWPORTS NEWS, Va. (WAVY) – Students, staff and alumni joined for a forum Monday to discuss shortcomings and issues surrounding the Christopher Newport University Title IX policy.
More than 100 people joined the meeting, as women shared alarming experiences in dealing with the CNU Title IX office, seeking solutions for what they identify as a litany of systemic issues. The group Where is the Line hosted the event. It’s also circulating a petition and open letter to administration about the anti-discrimination policy.
Title IX is a federal law that aims to prevent discrimination on at schools nationwide. The Title IX office at CNU handles complaints of Title IX investigations, ensuring that the university is compliant with federal law.
Emily Sullivan, a 2018 graduate, said that she brought forward accusations of being assaulted by one friend and raped by another friend, both incidents on the same night. Sullivan said her experience with investigators was nightmarish, as she was met with skepticism and few options for accommodations during the investigation.
“I lived in the same residence hall as my assaulters and the school would not move them nor would they move me,” she said. “So, I had to see them every day as this investigation was going on.”
Under Title IX, institutions may separate students on an emergency basis while it conducts an investigation. That option, Sullivan said, was never presented to her. She said that she was granted a no-contact order with one of the alleged assailants.
“The fact that I had to have two classes with my rapist the very next semester is astonishing,” she said.
Brooke Nixon, a 2022 graduate, said that when she went to the Title IX office to report an assault, she felt staff tried to intimidate her in an effort to dissuade her from pursuing the investigation.
“From there, meeting with them, they told me that I should expect to be sued, the university would be sued,” Nixon said, noting that no one on the Title IX staff was acting as her lawyer.
She said she was met with roadblocks that discouraged her from going to police with the accusations. Investigators told her they could handle the allegations within the Title IX office, she said.
“Somehow it’s normalized to take these cases and have them handled in-house here,” noting that Title IX investigations are civil, not criminal, in nature. “Title IX is limited to the school capacity, which just speaks to a greater systemic issue. We’re taking felony level cases. Rape is a felony level charge, like arson and burglary or anything else.”
She said that the university investigators told her they wouldn’t hand over her Title IX complaint file to law enforcement, and that police would need to subpoena the documents to obtain them. After a months-long investigation, starting from scratch with another investigation didn’t seem feasible, she said.
“To me, it just felt like the last thing they wanted me to do was try,” she said.
To add to her discouragement, she said she experienced misteps that violated the privacy of fellow students. At one point, she said an investigator accidentally sent her a 200-page report from another student’s rape investigation. In another instance, she said witnesses were given inaccurate information. Nixon said issues with the reporting and investigation process are at the university level, stemming from the department’s structure within the university.
“I think it’s a cultural issue here,” she said. “The office is too closely intertwined with the president’s office. I think there’s a conflict of interest. Do we protect the university, or do we protect our students?”
During the forum, students shared their experiences with the Title IX office. One student said that she spent five hours in interviews with investigators working on a friend’s case, causing her to miss an exam. Another student suggested that the policy must also hold professors and staff accountable who harass, intimidate, or discriminate against students.
Where Is The Line said that it will review findings from the forum with Adelia Thompson, the interim university president.
University spokesman Bruce Bronstein shared a statement with 10 On Your Side regarding accusations about the Title IX office’s culture and handling of allegations.
“We take our responsibility for student well-being and safety with the utmost seriousness,” he wrote. “We are committed to offering our full support and compassion to any student going through an immensely challenging and difficult time. Title IX requires us to have a fair, impartial and exhaustive process that respects the rights of all parties. To ensure student privacy, we will not comment on the specifics of any case.”
