Report: Michigan State Title IX program complies with federal law but could improve

EAST LANSING -  Michigan State University’s current Title IX policies and procedures comply with federal law, according to a report released Monday by a law firm hired by the university to review them.  

That doesn't mean MSU can't improve.

The report also include several recommendations, among them dropping the requirement that employees report alleged instances of sexual violence, exploitation or stalking to the MSU Police Department.

President Lou Anna Simon announced the independent review in April as part of the university’s response to criminal and internal investigations of Larry Nassar, a former MSU doctor accused of sexual assault by more than 140 women and girls.

The review, conducted by the law firm Husch Blackwell, did not look into MSU’s past handling of sexual misconduct complaints.

“MSU’s efforts, as demonstrated in its policy and procedures and related resources available on its website, in several respects, exceed those we have seen at other institutions, including large and complex organizations like MSU,” according to the report.

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Husch Blackwell compared MSU’s policies and practices to the rest of the Big 10 as well as to six institutions, “of similar mission or which have recently been reviewed by (The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights) as part of an enforcement action or policy review.” Those universities were not referenced by name in the report.

MSU was the only university among those examined that requires staff to contact police if they are informed of instances of sexual violence, sexual exploitation or stalking.

“We are concerned that MSU’s policy requiring all responsible employees to not only notify the Title IX Coordinator of sexual misconduct of which they become aware, but to also notify law enforcement, may be in tension with applicable legal requirements that vest victims with agency concerning whether to notify law enforcement,” the report stated.

MSU spokesman Jason Cody said the recommendations will be discussed with key campus and student groups, but won't necessarily result in policy changes. 

"We do recognize that we probably are a little more aggressive in our expectation that everyone report," Cody said. "We did this to facilitate a culture change; we want a culture of reporting."

MSU paid the law firm $35,000, plus expenses, to do the report, Cody said. Other recommendations called for making policies more clear and eliminating redundancies. 

Some 718 cases of potential sexual misconduct were referred to MSU's Office of Institutional Equity last school year, according to a report released in September. That's up from 201 cases referred to university officials during the 2014-15 school year.

Of those cases, 625 were not investigated, chiefly due to a lack of participation from the alleged victim. The university found 44 violations. 

The report also mentioned university's requirements to provide equal opportunities to both alleged victims and those accused. While MSU doesn't allow parties to directly question one another, Husch Blackwell officials said its system appears to comply with existing case law.

MSU was sued earlier this year by a former student who said he was deprived of his due process rights.

The U.S. Department of Education rescinded previous guidance on Title IX – the federal law barring discrimination based on gender – earlier this year. Because of this, the review didn't include the 2011 Dear Colleague letter that served as a warning from the federal governments toward universities to take allegations of sexual misconduct as gender discrimination. 

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Husch-Blackwell is expected to release the second phase of its review – focusing on the effectiveness of MSU’s broader Title IX program – by the end of the 2018 spring semester.

Contact RJ Wolcott at (517) 377-1026 or rwolcott@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @wolcottr.

Read the report

A complete copy of the report can be found on the university's Title IX website, titleix.msu.edu/news-events/news/Title%20IX%20External%20Review.html.