Tell Universities: Survivors deserve more than the bare minimum

The petition to Cornell University President Michael Kotlikoff and Board of Trustees, Louisiana State University President Wade Rousse and the LSU Board of Supervisors, and college and university leaders nationwide reads:

As students, parents, alumni, survivors, and survivor allies, we urge you to go beyond the bare minimum to protect students from sexual violence. Following Title IX rules on handling cases of campus sexual misconduct isn’t enough, especially when the rules were weakened by the Trump administration. To keep students safe from sexual violence, all colleges and universities must go beyond the bare minimum.

Nothing in Title IX prevents universities from holding students accountable. Yet, Louisiana State University allowed a football player who its own Title IX office found responsible for forcible rape to return to the team. Cornell expelled just two of the 16 students its panels found responsible for sexual assault between 2020 and 2024. In many cases, student survivors dropped out because of the immense trauma they experienced while their assailants graduated. These outcomes were choices made by university leaders, and leaders can choose differently. We call on you to:

• Adopt policies that cover more incidents of sexual harassment beyond what the 2020 Title IX rule requires and include off-campus and online assaults;
• make expulsion the expected sanction for any student found responsible for sexual assault or rape, with no exceptions for athletes;
• resolve cases within 60 days, and never pause investigations for slow-moving police cases;
• ensure investigators are trained on how trauma affects survivors;
• ensure students who experience any type of sexual harassment and assault are given appropriate supportive measures;
• clearly inform every survivor, in writing, of their right to pursue criminal charges;
• publish annual data on every complaint, finding, and sanction; and
• follow guidance from experts at the National Women’s Law Center to ensure your policies and practices put survivor safety first. 

The whole country is watching how your university treats survivors. Show students and women that their safety matters.

Why is this petition important?

Louisiana State University (LSU) put a football player found responsible for forcible rape back on the team. Cornell University let off students found responsible for sexual assault with essays and extra homework. Both schools insist they followed Title IX rules.

That’s exactly the problem. 

Title IX is a 1972 federal law that bans sex discrimination, including sexual harassment and assault, at school districts, colleges and universities that receive federal money or federal student aid. However, the Trump administration weakened Title IX, which means that the bar for schools to stay compliant with the law is in the dirt. That’s why universities can and must go beyond the bare minimum to keep students safe from sexual violence.

Tell Cornell, LSU and every college and university: Survivors deserve more than the bare minimum. Adopt policies and practices that put survivor safety first.