University Politics

Syracuse University gives 1st public statement on federal sexual assault investigation

Kiran Ramsey | Digital Design Editor

Syracuse University's statement about the federal investigation into the handling of a sexual assault case comes just before the "It's On Us" National Week of Action, which will start next week.

Syracuse University declined to comment on any details or specifics of the federal investigation into its handling of a sexual assault case on Wednesday as it provided its first public statement about the investigation.

The investigation was opened by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights in June after a student filed a Title IX complaint with the office in May, alleging SU failed to “respond promptly or equitably” to a report of assault.

The Daily Orange reported last month that the investigation had been opened after obtaining documents through the Freedom of Information Act and later reported that SU did not inform the Chancellor’s Task Force on Sexual and Relationship Violence of the investigation.

Wednesday’s statement, from SU’s interim Chief Equal Opportunity Officer and Title IX Officer Sheila Johnson-Willis, comes ahead of next week’s “It’s On Us” National Week of Action. The statement did not provide any updates on the status of the federal investigation.

“To protect the privacy of our students, faculty, and staff — who may report Title IX violations as confidential matters — we have worked with OCR to obtain the time necessary to redact any personally identifiable information from past records,” Johnson-Willis said in the statement. “For these same protected privacy reasons, the University cannot release or share details on any individual complaint.”



According to the statement, SU’s Office of Equal Opportunity, Inclusion and Resolution Services will soon host a forum, “Title IX-Year in Review,” to review the Title IX complaint process and “what we have learned over the past year.”

A date for the forum has not yet been announced, but it will be held “in the coming weeks.”





Top Stories