By Margaret Freeman and Olivia Link Special to the GazetteAs an institution that receives federal funding, Colorado College is subject to federal Title IX regulations, which govern everything under the umbrella of gender equality, including discrimination, sexual harassment and sexual assault on college campuses. Title IX policy outlines formal procedures for investigating allegations of sexual misconduct and the establishment of supportive measures to help students affected by this kind of violence. And yet some students, faculty and even a representative of the Title IX office say that the sprawling measure has flaws that render it ineffective in sufficiently protecting alleged sex assault victims. “We are handcuffed by the requirements of the regulations,” said David Jensen, assistant vice president of civil rights and Title IX at CC, an office that operates under federal jurisdiction. Title IX regulations delineate a process for the filing of formal complaints that involves an extensive investigation and a hearing where evidence is presented and witnesses interviewed. The procedures tend to frustrate efforts by campus officials to mete out justice for students who file complaints, CC officials and students say. “We don’t get a lot of cases that turn into either investigations or into cases where an individual is found responsible,” Jensen said. Jensen believes that the previous Trump administration’s changes to hearing procedures have negatively impacted student desire to pursue formal complaints. Those changes required live hearings and cross-examinations in higher-ed sexual harassment cases and effectively banned the use of a single investigator. “There is a need to provide due process, but the way that it is set up right now, it really has pushed down the numbers for every institution,” said Jensen. “Every higher education system has seen a drop in investigations that have occurred after the 2020 regulations have gone into place.” There is no publicly available dataset that tracks every Title IX higher-ed investigation since 2020, though a 2024 survey of 40,000 students conducted by a research and data collection firm, Westat, showed that the rate of reported sexual assault and misconduct had decreased by 6.8 percent since 2019. The percentage of students who felt knowledgeable about the definition of sexual assault and how to report cases also dropped, from 36.6 percent in 2019 to just under 30 percent in 2024, the survey showed. The Biden administration in 2024 dropped the requirement for live hearings and cross examination and again permitted a single-investigator process, but not enough time has passed since these strictures were ended to adequately measure the impact of their reversal. Colorado College students walk through campus. Gazette file photo. CC Director of College Transition Programs Jarred Wiehe believes that the problem is not that Title IX is failing to protect students, but that protecting students was never its job in the first place. Because CC’s Title IX office is strictly an administrative and adjudicative body, “Title IX functionally cannot work as harm reduction, restorative justice, redress and care. It just can’t operate like that because of its larger national context,” Wiehe said. “It also can’t be preventative in similar ways like bystander intervention training because harm has to happen first and then the office has to reply.” Wiehe said that the office’s primary responsibility is to ensure that the college’s actions do not go against federal anti-discrimination policy. The college’s Chief Financial Officer Lori Seager responded in a statement that Colorado College tries to go beyond the strict Title IX requirements to support its students. “(Federal) requirements define certain procedural steps we are legally obligated to follow,” she said. “However, within that framework, the College intentionally exceeds the minimum requirements by offering additional support resources, broader reporting pathways and campus-based processes that are not required under the regulations but that provide enhanced support to our community.” Alexa Gromko, director of CC’s media relations, said the Title IX Office falls under Seager’s purview at CC. “Our Title IX office works collaboratively with Campus Safety, the Counseling Center, the Student Health Center, HR, Athletics and confidential support resources to ensure that individuals who report sexual misconduct are met with compassion and a clear explanation of available options,” Seager said, adding that those resources are generally focused on victims rather than meting out punishment for alleged offenders. Wiehe said that the Wellness Resource Center and Campus Advocate are the best resources for emotional support for CC students, as they do not fall within the responsibility of the Title IX office. The office’s role is to determine whether or not a policy violation has occurred. In order to find someone guilty of a policy violation, the complainant in a Title IX case must present a “preponderance of evidence.” The standard used at CC requires 50.1% proof of a violation, as determined by the Title IX office, according to Jensen. In documents provided to The Catalyst regarding one reported case of alleged sexual assault that took place in September of 2024, the decision maker assigned to make a ruling on the case deemed that the alleged perpetrator was not liable, as the case did not meet the “preponderance of evidence.” The sign on the Colorado College Office of Civil Rights and Title IX. (Special to The Gazette) The case came down to a discrepancy between what the complainant (alleged victim) said happened and the version of events provided by the respondent (alleged perpetrator). According to a Notice of Decision in this specific case, after an almost seven-month investigation and a hearing between the two involved parties and advisers provided to them by the Title IX office, a non-CC-affiliated decision maker determined in April 2025 that “there is insufficient evidence to findRespondent responsible for violating the Policy.” Until this year, the sole arbitrator in Title IX cases was an external legal professional with no other ties to the college. The decision-making process has since been revised to include a panel of three trained CC faculty and staff members who evaluate the evidence to determine whether or not the policy has been violated. The process was revised following student and staff surveys. “Colorado College continuously reviews and strengthens our policies, training, and prevention efforts to reflect evolving best practices and the needs of our students,” Seager said. The determination in this case said that “the issue of Complainant’s consent is immaterial” as the Nondiscrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy stated that the “person who initiates sexual activity or moves an encounter from one sexual activity to another is responsible for obtaining consent of the otherbefore proceeding.” Because the complainant allegedly initiated kissing, the office determined that the respondent did not need to obtain consent before escalating the encounter. But the complainant stated in the report that after the initial kissing she then became unconscious due to alcohol consumption and was too impaired to give her consent, although the respondent stated that she was not. The 2024 Campus Safety and Fire Report says that it is a violation of CC policy “to engage in sexual activity or contact with another person if it is determined that the person knew or should reasonably have known that the other person was not able to give active consent due to substantial impairment based on drugs, alcohol, or any other physical or mental conditions or impairment.” According to the case determination, “The safest course of action when an individual is intoxicated is to refrain from engaging in sexual activity. The policy also makes it clear that incapacitation is more than intoxication and drunkenness.” The ruling released by the decision maker states that, “While there is ample evidence that Complainant was intoxicated, it is unclear whether her level of intoxication made her incapacitated. Nonetheless, because I conclude that the only sexual contact likely to have occurred that evening was kissing theComplainant initiated, it is irrelevant whether she had capacity to consent to sexual activity.” The new Colorado College logo shown Tuesday, February 9, 2016, on banners hung on the campus along Cascade Avenue and Nevada Avenue. Photo by Mark Reis, The Gazette The complainant in the case said officials within the Title IX office “were very dismissive and talked down to me numerous times.” In response, Jensen said, “We understand the regulatory process can be perceived as dismissive by the parties involved and we are constantly working on improving that process by having discussions about supportive measures. We want to ensure that our students know we are responsive to feedback.” One office that is tasked with emotionally supporting students who have experienced sexual assault or harassment is the Campus Advocate. After the job was vacant for over a year, CC filled the position with Molly Becker in late September. Speaking generally, Becker explained in an interview that “when we don’t believe (victims), we are perpetuating that stigma and perpetuating an unsafe culture where those behaviors are accepted.” Dismissing allegations of sexual violence can create a culture of ignorance and have adverse physical effects on alleged victims, she said. “Believing in survivors is everything,” she said. “(Victims) can start to develop eating disorders, depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts.” Colorado College’s 2024 Campus Safety and Fire Report shows that incidents of reported rape were two cases in 2023 and four in 2024. Data from the American Association of University Women shows that 89% of campuses have disclosed zero rapes, despite the statistic that one in five female students will experience sexual violence on campus. In 2022, The Catalyst reported that CC had under-reported rape in its annual release. Both Title IX Coordinator Josh Iringhausen and Head of Campus Safety Cathy Buckley stated at the time that existing reports tend to be underestimates due to strict criteria about what constitutes rape, as well as victims’ willingness to come forward. The last time CC published a Sexual Assault Campus Climate Survey was in 2017. The survey assessed the scope of sexual misconduct on campus. Of the female respondents, 41% of seniors, 21% of juniors, 21% of sophomores and 10% of first years reported some form of sexual assault. Male respondents reported sexual assault at rates of 19% for seniors, 14% for juniors, 12% for sophomores and 7% for first years. A 2023 nationwide survey conducted by Vector Solutions indicated that only 6% of student victims told campus or local police about their experiences, while another study from the American Psychological Association estimated that 90% of assaults on campus went unreported. That same study found that campus sexual assault makes up the biggest proportion of total on-campus crimes in the United States, accounting for around 43% of all reported crimes. Becker’s office is currently conducting an anonymous, voluntary survey of the student body regarding sexual misconduct on campus, the first such inquiry in eight years. ...read more read less