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Show FEATURE ANNE WILKINS AND SEAN KENNEDY STAFF REPORTERS Steps toward change Compared to other colleges, Westminster is among the national average when it comes to sexual assault claims reported by the Department of Education, with one out of four female college students being assaulted. Why now? Westminster College has implemented new regulations to the already in place Title IX. These new regulations cover how sexual harassment, sexual assault and any type of discrimination gets dealt with on campus. The new set of regulations is the result of Title IX In a recent interview with Title IX Coordinator, Trisha Teig, she said, Everyone can have an influence on the change and help being updated by the federal government. Now, almost all public and private colleges must have updated Title IX regulations in order to receive federal aid and funding. to change the numbers." Title IX culture. is here to create change and make a difference in rape Numerous have reached out to educate, especially females, how to protect themselves from sexual assault. Title IX is taking a different perspective. It may not be able to eliminate sexual violence completely from college campuses, but its a start. non-prof- its What is Tide IX? Your Title IX right Students might have noticed professors taking extra time reviewing the new section shown on all syllabi. This is because the new Title IX rules are far reaching and affect all students. While the extra time spent on the syllabus might have made the first day of class run longer than usual, the information covered is important to know. For those who dont know about the update to Title IX, the first place to check out would be the student handbook. Here, students can find a very thorough breakdown of all the new rules set in place as as a student described by the Department of of the Fall 2014 semester. Education is, No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. While first year students have learned about these new rules during their week of orientation, this is not the case for many upperclassmen who are coming off their long summer vacations without any Title IX has been around since 1972 with the Tide IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Most students relate Tide IX to funding for college athletics, and with the specific focus of supporting female sport teams against sex discrimination. Due to die Dear Colleague Letter sent out to all higher education establishments in 2011, Tide IX is being reformed. I had no idea Title IX covered more than just sports, said Tory Guilfoyle, a junior majoring in arts administration. Title DCs main purpose this year is to help educate students on their rights in any incident involving sexual misconduct and to help make all college campuses have a safer environment for students. President Barack Obama was quoted by Huffington Post on Jan. 22, 2014 to help inform victims that they are not alone with sexual assault cases, stating: Perhaps most important, we need to keep saying to anyone out there who has ever been assaulted: you are not alone. We have your back. Ive got your back. Titlel IX is here to advocate for victims and make updating the rape culture a unified cause. Victims have resources now available to them that not only help to report the incident, but to support them through the emotional process. Westminster has numerous resources available to students which are broken down into two categories: Confidential Resources, those who are not required to report to the college, and Resources, those who have an obligation to report incidents to the college. Non-Confiden- tial knowledge of the new rules. Before Title IX was created, there was a large gap in funding between men and women college sports programs. Now, with Title DC, womens and mens sports leagues must receive equal funding and women and men must be offered the same opportunity. Essentially, or similar sporting teams at a university. I think it is great that Westminster is taking sexual assault on My only worry is that people campus seriously, Guilfoyle said. arent going to know about the changes or about the safeguards that are in place. Title IX covers the following areas: access to higher education, career education, education for pregnant and parenting students, employment, learning environment, math and science, sexual harassment, standardized testing and technology. The increased coverage of Title IX will ensure that all students and faculty members can feel safe from any type of harassment or discrimination. The rules can seem invasive or even unnecessary, but without them, the gaps in protection for students and faculty are serious. If students are involved in any incident, it is crucial that they know their rights after being subjected to sexual misconduct. |