Pop quiz: should you tell the police if you think someone is responsible for a pattern of sexual assaults?Well, that ain't how they do things down Oklahoma State way.In the past, I've made the point that universities shouldn't be adjudicating sexual assault claims. Both because they're bad at it and because they can't actually take these people off the streets.Now, Oklahoma State has provided an object lesson, by showing how much can go wrong when you let a bunch of amateur investigators pretend to do the jobs of police and courts.Consider what happened at Oklahoma State after five different students reported sexual assaults by the same alleged perpetrator.You would assume that a disciplinary committee at an institution faced with multiple reports of sexual assault by one person might say to themselves, "Gee, the training video we watched didn't really prepare us to do the proper investigation of sexual assault at this scale, so maybe we ought to call police."Surely a bunch of amateurs, with no authority to subpoena, no ability to collect or test forensics--certainly they wouldn't attempt to identify and punish a possible serial attacker, would they?
Tag: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
Oklahoma State administrators defend handling of sexual assault investigation
Administrators at Oklahoma State University defended their decision to not notify police of allegations of multiple sexual assaults, telling the student newspaper this week that the school was prohibited from doing so by a federal student privacy law.
State attorney general upholds University of Kentucky decision to withhold records
The University of Kentucky doesn’t have to release records about a basketball player to the school’s student newspaper, the state attorney general’s office has ruled.
UNC will release records to media group as part of settlement in FERPA case
A two-year battle for documents detailing an investigation in NCAA violations is over, with public records being released to The Daily Tar Heel and other media organizations today and in the coming days.
Salt Lake Tribune wins release of records documenting coach's inappropriate relationship
Records documenting an inappropriate relationship between a student and a former high school football coach aren’t protected by FERPA, a Utah committee on public records has ruled.
Illinois paper continues fight for records related to coach resignations
The State Journal-Register has appealed a district court’s decision limiting the release of documents containing information about the resignation of two University of Illinois Springfield softball coaches in 2009.
N.C. state judge issues decision in UNC FERPA case
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act does not protect records relating to the violation of NCAA rules regarding impermissible benefits received by student-athletes, a North Carolina judge has decided.
Florida appeals court: College must release name of student who complained about professor
An email from a student to a department chair complaining about a professor is not a confidential education record, a Florida appeals court ruled Thursday.
Iowa Supreme Court: FERPA shields records in student athlete sexual assault case
Federal student privacy law bars the release of records related to an alleged sexual assault by university football players, even in redacted form, the Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday.
Ohio Supreme Court rules some OSU football investigation records can remain private
The Ohio Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered Ohio State University to hand over some – but not all – of the documents requested by ESPN in 2011 in relation to the NCAA’s investigation of former football coach Jim Tressel.