From the Journal of Legal Education: Legal Academics Speak to Sexual Harassment, Academic Policies and Title IX

(Pix © Larry Catá Backer 2017)

In 2016, Georgetown Law, The Journal of Legal Education and the Georgetown Gender Justice Project hosted a conference on the subject of Sexual Assault and Academic Freedom on College Campuses. The Press Release Conference Note explained the scope of the Conference:

Universities occupy a hallowed position in American culture. But numerous studies showing high rates of sexual assault on college campuses, as well as several well-publicized incidents, have spurred not only a wave of concern about students' safety but also new and more rigorous policies for addressing these assaults in universities and colleges across the country. While the importance of protecting students from violence is unquestioned, these new policies call for consideration of issues such as the appropriate role of administrative decision-making, the role of governmental regulations, the need for academic freedom, and the rule of law generally. How can we best ensure an educational environment free from sexual violence but, at the same time, provide for academic freedom and fair processes? How might we best maintain academic freedom without making it a defensive shield against enforcing equal opportunity requirements within academic life? These and related questions will inform the symposium.

The Journal of Legal Education has now published articles from that conference in its Summer 2017 issue.  The articles, with links, follow.  The articles merit serious study and discussion:

--“Safety and Freedom: Let’s Get It Together” by Hiram E. Chodosh, Matthew Bibbens, Nyree Gray, and Dianna Graves
--“Shame Agent” by Joan W. Howarth
--“Assaultive Words and Constitutional Norms” by Catherine J. Ross
“Campus Misconduct, Sexual Harm, and Appropriate Process: The Essential Sexuality of It All” by Katharine K. Baker
--“Consensual Sexual Dysphoria: A Challenge for Campus Life” by Robin West
--“A Rising Tide: Learning About Fair Disciplinary Process from Title IX” by Alexandra Brodsky
--“Mapping the Title IX Iceberg: Sexual Harassment (Mostly) in Graduate School by College Faculty” by Nancy Chi Cantalupo and William C. Kidder
--“Trigger Warnings: From Panic to Data” by Francesca Laguardia, Venezia Michalsen and Holly Rider-Milkovic