WashU let me down. Programs like bystander intervention and the Title IX office are supposed to protect survivors, but they did little for me.

This is a university failing its federal legal obligations under Title IX. Students deserve to know the truth.

In the past three years, two WashU professors have been publicly accused of sexual misconduct by students, leading to discourse online and student protests. To date, the University has not commented on its investigations or even confirmed that an investigation is happening. 

Amidst allegations of inappropriate, non-consensual touching from multiple students, Associate Professor of Chemistry Jonathan Barnes is no longer teaching his section of organic chemistry for the rest of the semester, as of Nov. 14. 

In a joint session on Tuesday, Sept. 10, Chancellor Andrew Martin addressed Student Union Senate and Treasury in a rare Q&A, expressing gratitude to the student leaders and fielding questions regarding campus protests, encampments, and concerns with Title IX policies from various Senators. 

Bloomberg News reported in December that Philip Dybvig, a professor at Washington University, is facing an inquiry from the University’s Title IX office about allegations of sexual harassment.

From the embarrassingly marketing-laden websites to the contrived allusions to a commitment to diversity, the expectation that we students should treat the administration as an external, distant entity is very quickly and clearly communicated to us freshmen. Is it any wonder that we treat brochures as punchlines? 

Though no office informs students about this phenomenon, Kennedy said that the Red Zone is reflected on WashU’s campus every year, though reported cases may not be completely accurate.

Bertlesman argues that “Student Life no longer has any reporting or investigating to offer. It never calls for comment beyond the standard statement. It never investigates further when there is clearly smoke in the air.”

Following US Department of Education regulations that limited Title IX’s scope in May 2020, Washington University’s Title IX and Gender Equity Office, the Rape and Sexual Violence Prevention Center and student groups such as Title Mine have worked to implement a variety of new initiatives addressing the DeVos regulations.