Washington University statement on proposed Missouri legislation on Title IX

Washington University strongly opposes legislation that is pending before the Missouri legislature that would effectively gut the university’s process for handling sexual assault and misconduct on our campuses. SB 259 and HB 573 would interject an alternate process that would be re-traumatizing and re-victimizing. This would have a chilling effect on students’ willingness to come forward with claims and reverse years of effort at our university to create an environment that encourages our students to report incidents of sexual assault and misconduct.

To be clear, at Washington University we are intent on a Title IX process that is thorough and fair to all parties involved. The proposed state legislation is not the way to get there.