<p>"The U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights announced it would open an investigation of the University 'for its failure to eliminate a hostile sexual environment on campus, in violation of Title IX,' according to a press release written by the complainants received Thursday afternoon by the News.</p>
<p>The measure comes after a formal complaint was filed by 16 Yale students and alumni on Mar. 15, informing the Office for Civil Rights about Yales breach of Title IX by citing a slew of 'inadequate response[s]' to public episodes of sexual misconduct on campus, such as the controversial Delta Kappa Epsilon incident last fall. The complaint also condemns the University through anonymous testimonies that attest to Yale's inappropriate approach to private instances of sexual misconduct and assault.</p>
<p>'After all the incidents of blatant sexual harassment and threatening behavior on Yales campus, why must it take an investigation by OCR to convince Yale that there is a serious problem on campus?,' the release said..."</p>
<p>Here’s a longer article about this: [The</a> Yale Herald Blog Archive BREAKING NEWS: Yale Students File Title IX Suit Against University](<a href=“yaleherald.com”>yaleherald.com)</p>
<p>I think it’s hard to evaluate this. I found the DKE incident to be shocking–but didn’t most people on campus find it shocking? Hasn’t DKE been sanctioned for this? There will always be people who think somebody wasn’t punished enough, but is there really a “hostile environment” for women at Yale? Clearly, there are some women at Yale who think that there is–but are they representative or outliers? Maybe that’s what investigations are for.</p>
<p>I have a son at Yale and not a daughter, so I may not have adequate insight, but I don’t believe that Yale, overall, provides a hostile environment for women–at least, not to the extent that it would make sense to choose to go somewhere else for that reason. It may be that Yale hasn’t done enough to pursue some particular cases, and that it needs to improve its procedures. But the reaction of most people at Yale to the DKE incident was revulsion.</p>
<p>A complaint was made to a Federal agency that now is charged with investigating further. Certainly this is no delcaration of any malfeasance on Yale’s part.</p>
<p>If you recall after the DKE incident, you had people asking for some of the purpetrators to be expelled. I’m glad Yale had the presence of mind to correctly equate the punishment with the crime and adhere to their Code of Conduct rather than cater to some segments’ thirst for blood. Those actions were foul and major screw ups. Punishment was meted out. Will some see this as some evidence of a campus wide indifference to sexual harassment or allowing a climate whch perpetuates this? It seems so. But to allege it is one thing – to prove it is another.</p>
<p>I have a daughter who feels thoroughly well respected and unharrassed at Yale. The main issue among the young women seems to be the scarcity of cute straight boys. Especially if you hang out among the artsy, music-y types.</p>
<p>The DKE incident was bad, and Yale did respond vigorously. But I’m not sure what tangible consequences ensued for the boys who participated. From my reading it appears that DKE is a very well-connected and rich fraternity. It is possible the punishment was on the light side. I honestly didn’t keep up with the story, my daughter was not too troubled by it.</p>
<p>I’ll pass along the warning of the shortage of cute, straight boys on campus (attendance could thereafter be a moot point)!</p>
<p>My understanding of the DKE incident was that there was NO punishment because nobody filed a formal complaint (police). Incidents do not bother me, a “culture” does. But, from what I am hearing here is that your sons and daughters do not see it as a cultural problem (I hope)? Thanks.</p>
<p>I’m a sophomore at Yale and thought I might add my own perspective. The DKE incident, though I cannot confirm this, was almost certainly met by punishment from the Executive Committee, Yale’s committee which deals with infractions against university regulations (you see them if you break any of Yale’s rules, and they have the power to expel people, suspend them, put them on probation, issue “reprimands,” etc). The issue is that Yale does not publicize in any way who ends up going to ExComm–their proceedings are (rightfully) private. As a result, we do not know what ended up becoming of this group, but I can assure you that ExComm investigates many incidents that do not have police reports.</p>
<p>The result is that it often feels as though no punishment has been meted out by Yale, when really there are often things going on that we do not see (ExComm has been known to impose special requirements on groups that those groups may not choose to share with the world). Dean Mary Miller is the ex officio head of ExComm.</p>
<p>An example of this is the recent allegations of sexual assault at the Pundits recruiting party. The Police ended their investigation of the party after they decided not to press charges, so Yale’s ExComm picked it right back up and will be deciding if Yale needs to take action against any individuals. </p>
<p>I believe the current investigation will be looking into whether Yale’s current regulation system is leading to the proper adherence to Title IX. We’ll see where it goes.</p>
<p>Thanks, Disneyguy. Do you think there is a “culture” that is hostile to the girls? Do you think the girls perceive that said culture exists at Yale? I’m just a dad that is concerned.</p>
<p>My daughter is a junior at Yale. She has never indicated that there is any hostility toward girls/women at Yale. We have talked about this sort of thing, in general, and the DKE incident in particular. No complaints about being a girl/woman at Yale. Nor has she indicated that there are any problems involving a shortage of cute, straight boys on campus. (Though she wouldn’t have used that exact description.) She and her friends at Yale seem to have had no trouble finding “eligible” young men.</p>
<p>So this article and the suit is just same-'old-same-'old stuff about cave men and women living together?</p>
<p>I asked my daughter about it (she’ll be at Bull Dog Days to verify), and she laughed . . . said something about her (rough) public high school and suggested that the DKE thing was amature to her experiences, then proceeded to lecture me about straights vs gays …</p>
<p>Dads (and Moms) get used to being in the back seat (and be glad to have a seat at all). Our kids are in the driver’s seat now.</p>
<p>The cute straight comment was made in jest, though it is undeniable there are a lot of cute gay guys on campus, and it is probably safe to say most of them don’t share the attitudes expressed in those DKE chants.</p>
<p>Vicarious, I know your comment was in jest, as was mine. DD is not concerned, I was. With your and the other poster’s help, I am no longer concerned. CoolRunning is retaking his back seat.</p>
<p>My daughter is a Yale sophomore and finds the atmosphere far easier than her public charter school, where a minority of controlling parents meant that male athletes could do no wrong. I agree that the main thing that parents can do is both to back off and, at the same time, hope we’ve taught our children to be respectful of others. Thanks, T26E4 and Disneyguy, for your descriptions of how Executive Committee handles complaints.</p>
<p>wow, haven’t been on CC in a couple months, and I know that several people have aid this already, but, just thought I’d add my perspective.</p>
<p>As a current fresh(wo)man at Yale, I honestly can’t come up with a single instance where any INDIVIDUAL I know felt the environment was hostile towards a gender. (It’s kinda hard to come up with ANY instances of hostility in general, honestly, the worst I can come up with now is more red-tape related.) So, I’m not sure what this group of students and alumni are suing for specifically but I honestly can’t say I’ve perceived it on campus.</p>