The Montana Board of Regents on Friday unanimously approved a new policy aimed at ensuring sex assault complaints are properly handled.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Justice Department and the civil rights division of the U.S. Education Department opened separate gender-discrimination investigations into how the University of Montana, its football program and the city of Missoula responded to allegations of sexual assault and harassment over the past two years. Cases involving football players drew national attention, and Montana's athletic director and head football coach were fired in March without much explanation.
According to Associated Press reports, the board directed each state college to appoint a coordinator to oversee gender equality issues. All employees will be required to undergo training for proper reporting of sexual assaults, and university staff most likely to field such complaints will receive advanced instruction. The confidentiality of alleged victims will be emphasized, as will the prompt investigation and written conclusion of each case with notification to parties involved.
The guidelines seek to ensure compliance with the Montana Human Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. Further recommendations are possible, as e-mail messages from University of Montana president Jim Foley are released as part of the news media's Freedom of Information Act requests. E-mails released so far suggest that Foley sought to silence one woman accusing football players of rape by invoking the student code of conduct.
"We need to raise the level of transparency to leave no question in the public's mind that we as a system are being 100 percent forthcoming with all we know," board chair Angela McLean told AP writer Matt Gouras.
"I think the regents have heard loudly and clearly that the citizens across this state, and the students, have lost trust and to a degree faith in the system."
