c/o Lizzy Brandt

“As always, our goal is to have compliant policies, practices, and procedures that are responsive and fair for all parties in alignment with Wesleyan’s values,” Title IX Coordinator and Assistant Vice President for Equity & Inclusion Debbie Colucci wrote in an email to The Argus. “Wesleyan’s Civil Rights Core Team, along with members of [the] Title IX Resource Network, gathered best practices from higher education associations and institutions as we reviewed and revised Wesleyan’s current policies and procedures.”

Title IX was established in 1972 by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. Along with regulations for athletes expected to be released in the coming year, the updated Final Rule under Title IX reestablishes and clarifies gender discrimination and violence protections for attendees of federally funded schools and education programs. 

“[T]he regulations restore and strengthen vital protections for students and provide schools with information to meet their Title IX obligations while offering appropriate discretion and flexibility to account for variations in school size, student populations, and administrative structures,” an update posted on the University’s website states.

The Department of Education updated Title IX regulations in 2020, but many believe the revisions were not comprehensive enough. Colucci sees the 2024 changes as providing students more alternatives for further action in reporting Title IX violations.

“The 2020 changes were restrictive in ways that did not always meet student needs,” Colucci wrote. “The 2024 regulations keep some of the positive aspects while also restoring some of the previous regulations.

Wesleyan’s implementation of the new regulations includes revised policy language, new training requirements for faculty and staff, and clearer reporting specifications for the entire community. Wesleyan also provides an incident reporting form for any violations of the University’s Community Standards, applicable for Title IX violations.  

In addition to the updates to Title IX regulations, the University has begun implementing the Green Dot strategy for violence prevention on campus. The Green Dot Bystander Intervention Program is a community safety model focused on training bystanders to be active participants in preventing and intercepting violence on college campuses and beyond.

“Green Dot is the only prevention approach that has been shown to reduce multiple forms of interpersonal violence,” Associate Director for Sexual Violence Prevention Amanda Carrington wrote in an email to The Argus, referencing a CDC review of violence prevention strategies.

Groups on campus will continue to receive Green Dot training, to be more aware of potentially dangerous behaviors on campus and practicing specific techniques to mitigate them.

“Bystander education will make our campus safer and help our students be more informed and aware citizens following graduation,” Carrington wrote. “Rollout of the Green Dot program on our campus is beginning this semester with an official launch in the Spring semester to the full campus.”

Any member of the Wesleyan community who has experienced sexual misconduct, whether in the form of intimate partner violence, non-consensual sexual activity and sexual assault, sexual exploitation, stalking, or sexual harassment, is encouraged to speak with someone. For confidential conversations, please contact the Associate Director of WesWell for Sexual Violence Prevention, Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS) and/or the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life. Anyone wishing to discuss options and resources for support or report an incident of misconduct is encouraged to contact the Title IX Office of Public Safety.

Anabel Goode can be reached at agoode@wesleyan.edu.