For over two years, the University of Chicago has been under Department of Education investigations for Title IX violations.  In this time, while great improvements have been made to the policy, there still remain several violations to be rectified and survivors still suffer.  In fact, the 2015 campus climate survey on sexual violence indicated that only 21% of female students are confident in the University’s handling of sexual violence, an unacceptable statistic.  

We, the undersigned, call on the University of Chicago to support survivors by complying with Title IX and utilizing their extensive endowment in a productive manner that demonstrates their concern for Title IX matters.  Our demands are as follows:

Training:
a) Mandate comprehensive Title IX Training for all University faculty, staff, and students as required by Title IX. 

Staff:
a) Hire more non-student staff to work in Resources for Sexual Violence Prevention (RSVP) and Student Emergency Response Systems (SERS), and further fund and promote them. As of now, each is virtually a one-person office and provides over 80 presentations on Title IX per year.
b) Hire more staff to work with Sarah Wake in her capacity as Title IX coordinator.
c) Fire Belinda Cortez-Vazquez because of her history of pressuring survivors to report, conflicts of interest, and neglecting confidentiality, all of which violate Title IX.

Transparency:
a) Provide students with a transparent budget on allocations for sexual assault awareness, education, and prevention (including, but not limited to: Resources for Sexual Violence Prevention, Phoenix Survivors Alliance, Office of Campus and Student Life, and the Title IX coordinator)
b) Create a Student Monitoring Committee to let students be a part of new hiring decisions and Title IX compliance.
c) Provide a transparent and specific timelines for when hirings will happen.