The necessity of reconstructing NDA use in sexual misconduct processes
This is a letter to the editor, from Cullen Trobec, Class of 2020
If you’re as upset as I am following the alleged misconduct by Johnnies on Pat 1 and 2, you’re likely looking for concrete steps that can be taken to make change. Let me offer a suggestion: urge the CSB/SJU administration to reduce the scope of non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) required by the sexual misconduct reporting process, and make the identities of CSB/SJU students and staff members found responsible for sexual misconduct available on an individual basis, by request.
Under the current Title IX process, if a student is found guilty of sexual misconduct, both parties (the complainant and the respondent) are required to sign an NDA that prohibits the sharing of the outcome. Put simply, no one is permitted to tell anyone that the guilty party is in fact guilty.
The signing of NDAs virtually guarantees that the only penance guilty parties serve as a result of misconduct are whatever sanctions the Title IX adjudication board recommends. In many cases, these sanctions are as tame as academic probation, no-contact orders and community service. To my knowledge, only under extremely rare circumstances is expulsion or suspension the recommended sanction.
In effect, this allows the guilty party to go forward without a public record of misconduct. I find this absolutely inexcusable. I see no reason that those who commit sexual misconduct that would otherwise be subject to criminal charges outside of CSB/SJU should remain anonymous. If a member of the CSB/SJU community has been found responsible for sexual misconduct, the broader community deserves to be able to find out.
The administration should amend their use of NDAs to apply only to the sharing of detailed case information and the names of complainants and witnesses. Further, they should make the names of CSB/SJU students and staff who have been found responsible for sexual misconduct available by request by other community members.
It’s time to end the ability of guilty parties to hide behind these rules. It’s time to expose those who commit sexual misconduct to public shame. It’s time to make those who would otherwise commit misconduct think twice before it occurs. It’s time to make creeps afraid.