Demand the College of Idaho to hire a new Title IX Coordinator
Demand the College of Idaho to hire a new Title IX Coordinator
The Issue
The College of Idaho is known among its students for its poor ways to address any instances of sexual harassment or assault. A lack of accountability has been a concern of many for years, and the stories keep repeating themselves. Others fear that students are not coming forward to report any incidents. Students of The College of Idaho have expressed on a number of different occasions their discomfort with the said perception of the college. Such perception is a consequence of a number of different problems, with the number 1 problem being the College of Idaho's current Title IX Coordinator, Reagan Rossi. The issue? Reagan Rossi is also the college's Athletic Director. A circumstance that is almost non-existent in any other higher education institution in the nation.
The Office for Civil Rights of the U.S Department of Education states in a letter sent to Title IX coordinators across the nation the following:
"[...] In deciding to which senior official the Title IX coordinator should report and what other functions (if any) that person should perform, recipients are urged to consider the following:
1. Independence: the Title IX coordinators' role should be independent to avoid any potential conflict of interest [...] when designating a Title IX coordinator, a recipient should be careful to avoid designating an employee whose other job responsibility may create a conflict of interest. For example [...] Athletics Director
2. Full-time Title IX Coordinator: Designating a full-time Title IX coordinator will minimize the risk of conflict of interest and in many cases ensure sufficient time is available to perform the role's responsibilities [...]."
As highlighted by the previous section, Reagan Rossi's role as Athletics Director and Title IX Coordinator, though not illegal, represents an inconceivable conflict of interest in a College where nearly 50 percent of students are athletes. This campaign demands to the College that a new Independent Title IX coordinator is hired in order to address the concerns mentioned above.
The Issue
The College of Idaho is known among its students for its poor ways to address any instances of sexual harassment or assault. A lack of accountability has been a concern of many for years, and the stories keep repeating themselves. Others fear that students are not coming forward to report any incidents. Students of The College of Idaho have expressed on a number of different occasions their discomfort with the said perception of the college. Such perception is a consequence of a number of different problems, with the number 1 problem being the College of Idaho's current Title IX Coordinator, Reagan Rossi. The issue? Reagan Rossi is also the college's Athletic Director. A circumstance that is almost non-existent in any other higher education institution in the nation.
The Office for Civil Rights of the U.S Department of Education states in a letter sent to Title IX coordinators across the nation the following:
"[...] In deciding to which senior official the Title IX coordinator should report and what other functions (if any) that person should perform, recipients are urged to consider the following:
1. Independence: the Title IX coordinators' role should be independent to avoid any potential conflict of interest [...] when designating a Title IX coordinator, a recipient should be careful to avoid designating an employee whose other job responsibility may create a conflict of interest. For example [...] Athletics Director
2. Full-time Title IX Coordinator: Designating a full-time Title IX coordinator will minimize the risk of conflict of interest and in many cases ensure sufficient time is available to perform the role's responsibilities [...]."
As highlighted by the previous section, Reagan Rossi's role as Athletics Director and Title IX Coordinator, though not illegal, represents an inconceivable conflict of interest in a College where nearly 50 percent of students are athletes. This campaign demands to the College that a new Independent Title IX coordinator is hired in order to address the concerns mentioned above.
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Petition created on January 9, 2021