Last week’s troubling, multifaceted indictment of the University’s handling of sexual assault cases raises many serious questions. These questions deserve swift answers.
A complaint filed Wednesday against the University by one former administrator, one former student and three current students alleges, among other things, that the University Counsel’s office pressured then-Assistant Dean of Students Melinda Manning to report fewer sexual assault cases to the federal government, that Manning was the victim of a hostile work environment, and that her attempts to help reform the University’s sexual assault policy were constantly rebuffed.
Taken together, these statements paint a disturbing, albeit one-sided, picture of University administration.
The Daily Tar Heel reported on the allegations in its Friday issue. The two officials addressed most frequently by name — Dean of Students Jonathan Sauls and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Winston Crisp — declined to comment on the specific claims.
Friday came and went without a peep from South Building — only a restatement of what Crisp told the DTH: that it would be improper to respond to the complaint until contacted by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
The University has apparently forgotten — yet again — its responsibility to the many stakeholders who have the right to answers: students subject to the sexual assault policy that’s under fire, faculty standing in solidarity with Manning, alumni who give money to the University each year, and North Carolina residents who subsidize it.
The public servants standing accused have the right to tell their side of the story. For the sake of those who demand answers — and for their own — they should do so quickly.
