Incentives offered to change campus sex assault response

Michigan can't force its public universities to adopt a unified approach to handling sexual assaults on their campus, but they can dangle incentives to encourage changes, several lawmakers said Monday at the end of a day-long summit on the topic.

The schools claim autonomy under the state constitution, leaving much of their decision-making outside the influence of lawmakers.

But lawmakers sent money to the universities and can use it to help force change.

"We can support efforts with our resources," state Sen. Rebekah Warren, D-Ann Arbor, said. "We use carrots in ways we can't use sticks. It's an important way for us to be a voice on these campuses."

One of those carrots was announced Monday — $500,000 to be awarded in grants to universities for new programs to combat sexual assaults on campus.

State Police Col. Kriste Kibbey Etue announced the money during the Let's End Campus Sexual Assault summit, sponsored by Michigan first lady Sue Snyder. The money was included in the 2016 budget after a tussle in the Senate to get the funding.

Guidelines for the grants will be announced in the coming year and be established by a committee.

"We are going to work to end sexual assault on Michigan's campuses," said Etue, the director of the state police.

There were 159 reports of sexual assaults on Michigan's public and private college campuses in 2013, the latest year complete figures are available. That's a 62% increase from 2001.

Three Michigan universities — Grand Valley State University, Michigan State University and the University of Michigan — are being investigated by the federal Education Department's Office of Civil Rights over how they handled specific sexual assault claims. The number of these types of investigations has increased more than tenfold across the nation from 2009 to 2014.

The summit was cohosted by four state lawmakers – Warren, Republican Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker; Republican Rep. Laura Cox and Democrat Rep. Marilyn Lane.

Lane and Schuitmaker were among those advocating for a unified system across the state. Cox suggested she'll continue to look at how the issue is handled. She expressed concern about universities using administrative investigations to handle rape reports.

"I have a bit of angst … about how the universities can address it themselves. It's a crime."

In Michigan, no statewide standard exists for how universities should respond. Each university is free to set its own policy within federal guidelines.

At the University of Michigan, that means the school's own police department is often left out of sexual assault investigations, which are instead carried out administratively. Michigan State University requires police be called for all student sexual assault reports, but it will also carry out a parallel administrative investigation. Policies at the state's other public universities are about evenly split between those two approaches.

The dual approaches can have widely different results when it comes to punishment. A student convicted of sexual assault through the criminal justice system faces a potential jail or prison term, and a listing on the state's public sexual offender registry. A student found in violation of a school sexually harassment policy, including rape, at worst faces expulsion from school or, in some instances, is ordered to write an essay.

A number of other states are wrestling with the same concerns and are using legislative remedies to address the issue. In Rhode Island, a bill introduced last year to mandate colleges to report sexual assault incidents to police is being allowed to die. In its place is a new bill that would form a study commission on the topic.

Lawmakers in Virginia and New Jersey also introduced bills this session that would require college officials to promptly report all allegations of on-campus sexual assaults to local law enforcement agencies. The Virginia proposal was scaled back before winning approval. In New Jersey, in the face of opposition from colleges and women's advocates, the bill's sponsor introduced another measure to create a study commission.

In California, guidelines introduced in May include requiring agencies to test rape kits, better coordinate interviews so victims don't have to recount a traumatic experience multiple times, and make sure students are informed of their right to file a report — or not to. California is one of a few states requiring its colleges to contact law enforcement in a sexual assault case.

More than 400 people — lawmakers, students, survivors, experts and college administrators — attended the day-long event in Lansing.

"Wow, what a day," Snyder told the crowd at the end. "It's been unbelievable the response we've gotten. We want to keep this conversation going."

Contact David Jesse: 313-222-8851 or djesse@freepress.com Follow on Twitter: @reporterdavidj