Sex assault inquiry welcome

There are undoubtedly administrators at the University of Hawaii’s flagship campus who would rather wish away this additional headache. But the public will be better off, ultimately, because Manoa was among 55 schools tagged for auditing on how they handle cases of sexual harassment and sexual violence.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) on Thursday released a list of the higher education institutions including UH-Manoa under investigation for possible violations of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

Title IX is the federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in all education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance.

Manoa officials have issued a written statement aimed at reassuring the public that UH was not on the list because there’s been an actual Title IX complaint. It is among the schools that were "selected for proactive compliance reviews."

While that means there’s no smoking gun at UH, the community ought to stay engaged in the process and demand changes if any problem is, in fact, uncovered.

It’s not clear from the official U.S. DOE announcement how schools were identified for compliance reviews, although one published statement clarified that these were not "random audits of schools."

"They are selected based on various sources of information, including statistical data, news reports and information from parents, advocacy groups and community organizations," Dorie Nolt, press secretary for the department, told The Boston Globe.

Whatever sources put Manoaon the list, the federal investigators must be forthcoming with the results, providing a clear assessment of any problems or a conclusion that UH is handling things well.

UH officials confirmed that an OCR team was on campus Thursday, meeting with students, faculty, staff, administrators and regents.

UH policies and procedures for dealing with sexual harassment and assault are in place and can be viewed online (www.hawaii.edu/apis/ep/e1/generalp.php).

How these rules have been carried out, however, need to be open to inspection. The federal probe can precipitate a broader discussion about how to improve security on campus, ensure that students who feel threatened have recourse, and potentially unearth problems that otherwise may have been under the radar.

Sexual assault in the university environment has drawn heightened attention as a national problem, one that’s a concern across the full spectrum of college campuses. The Obama administration convened a task force on student sexual assault and has said releasing the list of schools under review would bring needed transparen-cy to an issue that deserves greater focus.

Of course, Congress has investigated similar problems within the military, and that has elicited calls from Capitol Hill for reform on college campuses as well.

The fact that women now outnumber men on college campuses has also driven up the intensity of this discussion. A 2009 study published in the Journal of American College Health used self-reported data that showed almost 20 percent of female students experiencing some type of sexual assault since entering college, most occurring after women voluntarily consumed alcohol.

All of these factors male-female demographics, youth, alcohol combined to create a high-risk zone.

UH officials affirm that they have been briefed on university Title IX compliance obligations. Manoa Chancellor Tom Apple called the current audit "a productive opportunity to see how else we can enhance student safety, above and beyond what we’re doing already."

That’s the right expression of resolve, but it’s the forthcoming results that matter.