<p>I the process of my daughter's college search, I have been reading a number of articles about the DOJ investigation into sexual misconduct at Yale, Yale being fined recently for covering up incidents of sexual misconduct, Naomi Wolf's article about the University's reluctance to address or discuss what happened to her as a student, and the claim that while Yale pays a lot of lip service to this issue, no male students have actually been expelled for rape or other sexual misconduct. </p>
<p>As the father or a daughter in search of a college, I would like to know how true these articles are and what substantive steps Yale is taking to address establish clearly defined consequences for future misconduct and communicate that message to the young men of Yale.</p>
<p>Can someone knowledgeable about the situation tell me about the veracity if what I am reading, what is happening now, and whether you believe that a parent should be comfortable sending their daughter into this environment?</p>
<p>I have no idea of what is happening at Yale but if you don’t feel the culture is right and your “spidey senses” are on high alert then you need to listen to that. It’s the same reason I would NEVER send my daughters to a military academy.</p>
<p>As far as I know, the recent complaint was filed with the Office of Civil Rights of the Department of Education, not DOJ. Yale was not fined but rather settled the complaint, whatever that implies.</p>
<p>Check the Yale forum, under the Colleges section.
Another source to check is the student newspaper and the city newspaper, you can search for articles and editorials on any topic.
Would the problem be worse there than anyplace else? I’m just saying that this is a widespread problem in our society and you may need to keep Yale’s situation in perspective. The problem might be just as bad somewhere else but it didn’t make it into the newspapers. It is a legitimate question for you to be asking of people at Yale though.</p>
<p>Are you aware of the campus security and safety website? Colleges are required to report campus crime to the federal government and you can look up data on any school.
[The</a> Campus Safety and Security Data Analysis Cutting Tool](<a href=“Campus Safety and Security”>Campus Safety and Security)</p>
<p>The issue is not unique to Yale. Complaints were filed last semester with the DOE (not the DOJ) against Swarthmore, Occidental, UNC, Dartmouth, USC, UC Berkeley, Colorado, and perhaps a few others (maybe Vassar and Amherst). There is an underground network of activists that are raising awareness to the issue and attempting to bring about a change in culture, hopefully for the best. 2013/2014 should be a watershed year in exposing and dealing with this issue.</p>
<p>If it were my son or daughter I would want them to attend a school where there is more (not less) attention given to this issue. At least those schools are moving in the right direction, if not begrudgingly. Yale seems to be at the center of this for the past decade. I would be far more concerned if the school is not in the news as it suggests a lack of vocal opposition to sexual assault and perhaps complacency.</p>
<p>On the other hand, and for the same reasons, I would recommend to my son that he stay far away from one of the liberal arts schools (Occidental, Swarthmore, Vassar, Amherst) where the activists are particularly powerful and entrenched. While the environment may be tremendously enlightening, its not without an added and not insubstantial risk.</p>