CU Boulder and CU Denver are two of 55 higher education institutions under federal investigation for their handling of sexual violence complaints, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Education on Thursday, May 1.
No details will be released on the specifics of the investigations.
“We are making this list available in an effort to bring more transparency to our enforcement work and to foster better public awareness of civil rights,” Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon said in the release. “We hope this increased transparency will spur community dialogue about this important issue. I also want to make it clear that a college or university’s appearance on this list and being the subject of a Title IX investigation in no way indicates at this stage that the college or university is violating or has violated the law.”
CU Boulder has come under fire for claims related to sexual assault multiple times in the last year. One student accused the university last summer of not adequately disciplining the perpetrator of her sexual assault, and another student said the university did not properly investigate the report of her sexual assault. In January, an external review revealed a history of sexual harassment in the philosophy department.
CU announced it was looking for a new campus Title IX director in February.
The complete list of colleges and universities the Department of Education is investigating can be found here.
Contact CU Independent Editor-in-Chief Annie Melton at anne.melton@colorado.edu.
