Will Kangas

wkangas@lsj.com

EAST LANSING – Of the 174 sexual misconduct cases reported at MSU between 2011 and 2014, 27 percent resulted in a formal investigation, according to a report released by the university.

The report was prepared by the Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives for the University Task Force on Sexual Assault and Relationship Violence, which is trying to identify effective strategies to address campus sexual misconduct in the future, according to MSU spokesperson Jason Cody.

"This is really a push for more transparency as we have adopted new policies, taken in federal guidance and adhere to the thoughts of the community," Cody said. "The more awareness we have the better we can prevent it and respond to it."

The report does not show criminal investigations, but internal investigations by MSU to determine whether university policy had been violated.

MSU is one of 90 colleges and universities under federal investigation for their handling of sexual assault cases. The U.S. Department of Education has two open Title IX compliance cases against the MSU stemming from complaints filed in July 2011 and February of this year.

Of the 174 cases, 127 did not undergo a formal investigation. Most of those were dropped because the person who prompted the complaint did not want to participate, according to the report.

Paulette Granberry Russell, the university's Title IX Coordinator, said the report "initially indicates that MSU is achieving many of our goals over the last few years of enhanced efforts."

MSU graduate student Jessica Kane, who volunteers at the campus Sexual Assault Center, said she has mixed feelings about the report's findings.

"Sanctions are up in the short term which is good news," she said. "But we still have a long way to go."

In the 2013-14 academic year, there were eight sanctions given in response to 21 formal investigations of incidents involving two students. For the full period covered by the report, 23 sanctions resulted from 47 investigations.

Sanctions include seven dismissals from the university, four suspensions and four students placed on probation with no-contact orders and behavioral compliance plans and four students who withdrew from the university and will not be allowed to re-enroll.

Kane said the U.S. Department of Justice statistics show that one of every five female students on U.S. campuses are sexually harassed or assaulted every year.

"If you look at MSU in terms of population, that means there are thousands," she said. "According to this report there was only 174 reported since 2011. That seems low."

The assault center gets hundreds of calls to its hotline every year, she said, so she knows there are more incidents out there.

"But I guess this is a good start as far as reporting and accountability," she said. "I applaud the university for its attempts knowing that we have a lot more to do."

The report also indicates that a majority of the complaints from 2013-14 were between students.

Of the 97 complaints, 81 originated from students. The report said 43 percent of the complaints involved two students and 36 percent involved a student and an person of "unknown or no affiliation."

Only four percent were between a student and employee and nine percent of the complaints were between employees.

A similar report by the University of Michigan's Office for Institutional Equity notes that the Ann Arbor school had 129 reports of sexual misconduct from 2013-14. Of those, 27 were investigated, 48 were sent to a review panel for a decision and the remainder were determined to not fall under the school's policy.

MSU instituted a policy in the spring of 2012 that requires any university employee who receives information about an alleged sexual assault involving another member of the university community to report it both to MSU police and to Granberry Russell's office.

The report comes at the same time that there is dissent on campus over conservative journalist George Will's planned speech at a commencement ceremony on Saturday.

Students and faculty held a sit-in on Wednesday at MSU's administration building demanding that the university rescind Will's invitation.

Organizers of the events say Will has a history of inflammatory statements regarding the severity of college rape. Will wrote a column last summer in which he suggested female college students who report sexual assault have a "coveted status" that brings "privileges" on campus.

By The Numbers

Between 2011 and 2014 there were 174 reports of sexual misconduct at Michigan State University

Of those 174, 47 were formally investigated

Of the 47 formal investigations, 23 cases have resulted in the finding of a violation