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.

In a protest titled “Wash. U. Has a Problem,” organized by the group in charge of the Instagram account @metoowashu, students gathered across campus to demand that Washington University take action to prevent sexual violence.

The Student Life Editorial Board finds the policy changes reprehensible and urges everyone on campus to campaign for change.

Student Union and Title Mine, a survivor-focused activist group on campus, held a town hall, Feb. 4, with Washington University administrators to discuss new guidelines for student groups regarding Title IX issues in light of the Trump administration’s changes to federal policy.

In response to new regulations from the U.S. Department of Education narrowing the scope of Title IX, Washington University has implemented new Title IX grievance processes and added a new procedure to cover instances of sexual misconduct that fall outside of the revised federal policy.

Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos formally issued new Title IX regulations for schools handling instances of sexual misconduct Wednesday. The updated rules are intended to go into effect Aug. 14.