For the first time, all university employees are required to complete mandatory training for Title IX and Retaliation, following a complaint that was made by a student in the Corps of Cadets.
According to Frank Shushok, deputy Title IX coordinator for student sexual misconduct and senior associate vice president for Student Affairs, in the fall of 2013, a female cadet informed a male member of the Corps of Cadets staff that she believed another female cadet was spreading rumors about her that were “sexual in nature.”
“Instead of immediately reporting the incident, the staff member began asking questions related to the allegation,” Shushok said in an email.
Information made available from the questioning led the staff member to believe that the female student who reported the harassment had violated the visitation policy, which is explicitly stated in the Corps of Cadets handbook.
The handbook has several rules relating to visitation that cadets are required to follow. Visitation in cadet rooms by members of the opposite sex or non-cadets is only allowed during specified hours and doors must be kept open at a minimum of 30 degrees any time the room is occupied by mixed genders.
The corps staff member informed the female cadet that he believed she had violated policy and would proceed under that assumption.
“Since the alleged violation only came to light as a result of the student’s initial complaint, she felt there had been retaliation,” Shushock said.