One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
Feds Investigating Oxy, USC For Mishandling Sexual Violence Cases
Fowler Hall at Occidental College / Photo by Michael Locke via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr
The Department of Education today released a list of over 50 institutions of higher learning throughout the country that are being investigated as to whether they violated federal law in handling sexual violence and harassment complaints. On the list were two local colleges: Occidental and USC, both of which have admitted to underreporting and covering up sexual assault cases on their campuses.
Also on the list was Bay Area UC Berkeley and the Butte-Glen Community College District of Butte County, CA.
Occidental has come under especially heavy scrutiny in the past year for their mishandling of sexual assault cases, discouraging victims from reporting rapes and covering up cases and not notifying the student body of incidents.
The report comes in the wake of recommendations from the White House on how to prevent and respond to sexual assault on college campuses and the launch of NotAlone.gov, a site providing information for institutions and students. The campaign also a features a PSA starring the likes of President Obama, Vice President Biden, Daniel Craig, and Steve Carrell.
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
