A quote pulled directly from Pace University’s website reads, “The Office of Institutional Equity/Title IX Compliance’s mission is to ensure a campus environment where all members of our community have equitable access to academic and professional opportunities. The Office is responsible for processing allegations of harassment and discrimination, including Title IX, and works collaboratively across the University with students, staff and faculty to achieve its mission.”

Though in recent years, many would argue that Title IX is not fulfilling its mission. After hearing countless stories regarding the office’s strong miscarriages of justice, I decided to do a bit of digging myself. I set up an anonymous form in which students who have had poor interactions with the Title IX office could share their stories, freely and anonymously. I provided an additional space for those who had situations that they chose not to report to Title IX in an effort to gather data on why some individuals do not report to the office. This article will help to display these victims’ stories, and hopefully harvest change within the office itself, as we plea for our university to take a stronger stand with victims, and stop brushing these instances under a rug in order to save face. Before sharing, I would like to preface this by saying those who shared their stories with me were made aware that they would be quoted in this article.

The first response I received is as follows:

“During my freshman year I was sexually assaulted by a student on the football team. At an unrelated meeting with my RD, I asked how I would go about making a report. A staff member who handles title IX reports joined us in the office as well as my roommate (for emotional support). I explained what happened with the other student and we discussed further options. The impression I was given was that moving forward would likely be more trouble than it was worth. Pace would likely not punish him as it is a ‘he said she said.’ It was implied that what happened to me was not ‘bad enough’ for Pace to care. It didn’t help that he was on the football team. Now my report sits in a system. I was told that if another student came forward about him then I would be made aware and a case could be brought against him. But just my report wouldn’t be enough for Pace to take action.”

The next response I received was the following:

“Shortly after I was assaulted I was made to believe it was my fault and that if I reported it no one would believe me, saying that I’d look like I was just trying to start an issue. When I finally got the courage to report I felt that the Title IX department treated me with very little sympathy or concern. I was not kept updated about the status of my case, what the outcome was, and how to proceed from there on even after many attempts of asking for a response. One of my biggest concerns was the fact that he lived in the room next to mine and I explicitly asked for one of us to be moved. We continued to live next door to each other for the remainder of the school year. Unfortunately, other things have happened along the way but I’ve lost faith in the system to take my concerns seriously or give me any sense of justice. After the no-contact order was put in place he still found other ways to retaliate without interacting with me. He convinced all my friends that I lied about the situation and could not be trusted. Almost a year and a half later, I’m grateful to say I’ve been able to start reconnecting with some of them. After he did the same things to another girl off campus they realized all the negative aspects he said I had were just a projection of his own character.”

Though I received a few responses from those who did report, I also received some from individuals sharing their stories and explaining why they chose not to report to Title IX.

The first reply is as follows:

“I chose not to report my incident to Title IX because I felt like it was big enough for people to be concerned, but not big enough for any higher ups to do anything about it. I feared I would look overdramatic or sensitive, and it worried me to think that the Title IX office might think it was too big of a “what if” if the situation continued to progress.”

The second reply was:

“I was being texted online by an employee who worked in Kessel. He somehow found my Facebook and would message me asking for things. Didn’t seem like I should report it at the time because I didn’t want to get anyone in trouble but was really uncomfortable. I also wasn’t given any resources so I wouldn’t have known who to report it to even if I wanted to.

The final reply I received was:

“I was at a party my freshman year when I was screamed at by an older guy I knew who goes to school here. We were completely alone and he was under the influence of alcohol. We were both very separated from the rest of the people around us. The music and yelling around us at the party was so loud, I don’t believe anyone heard when he raised his voice and began yelling in my face. Though the situation didn’t turn violent or aggressive at that moment, I still wonder to this day what I would have done if it had, and no one would’ve heard or been able to help me in this situation. This guy was much taller and stronger than me, and someone I have seen get aggressive before. I ran out of the room as soon as I collected my thoughts and went to get help and separation from the guy who yelled at me and was met with stares and confused looks. It wasn’t until I broke down into tears as soon as I found the group of girls I was with that I was acknowledged as someone in an urgent situation, rather than getting dirty looks from random classmates. Despite a few encouraging friends who told me I should let Title IX know about my incident, I had already heard quite a few grievances with their office as a freshman. I heard about peoples’ stories that went unheard and about actions that were never taken to protect people in horrible situations. I would say this was a big reason I mostly found my protection from this guy in my friends and all those who were aware of what went on that night.”

The first responses clarify the mishandling of these situations by the Title IX office; the second set of responses further reiterate why so many victims are scared to come forward, many in fear that their cases will be handled poorly or neglected as a whole. On the university’s website, there is one Title IX coordinator listed for the Pleasantville Campus, Bernard Dufresne. One point of reform that should be made in our current Title IX office is the formulation of a diverse board of coordinators, which would give each victim a fair chance of advocacy and justice. Additionally, students need to be better informed of how to report these situations if they do occur, as much of the data I received points to the fact that individuals do not have the resources they need in these times. Finally, we as a campus need to eliminate the stigma of coming forward and allow each and every story an opportunity to be heard and understood to its fullest extent. This article was meant to highlight stories that may otherwise go unheard, and I hope we can use it as a point of action in reforming our system here at Pace.