Recent News
New OpEd by Sandra R. Levitsky, Elizabeth A. Armstrong and Kamaria Porter in the Washington Post
My advisors, Sandra Levitsky and Elizabeth Armstrong, and I penned an op-ed in response to the new Title IX regulations. We argue, based on our study of nearly 400 campus sexual assault policies, that a majority of schools did not implement policies that deprived accused students of due process. Rather most institutions adopted procedures that balanced investigatory practices that minimized re-traumatization with resolution procedures that ensured students could review and challenge evidence, ask questions through third parties, and appeal the decision. Cross examination by lawyers is wildly inappropriate in student sexual misconduct cases.
Read it here
Title IX Regulations OpEd
Kamaria Porter appearing on panel to discuss new study of sex, power, and assault on campus
The fear of campus sexual assault has become an inextricable part of the college experience. But why is sexual assault such a common feature of college life? And what can be done to prevent it? Drawing on the Sexual Health Initiative to Foster Transformation (SHIFT) at Columbia University, the most comprehensive study of sexual assault on a campus to date, Jennifer S. Hirsch and Shamus Khan’s new book presents an entirely new framework that emphasizes sexual assault’s social roots, transcending current debates about consent, predators in a “hunting ground,” and the dangers of hooking up.
Based on years of research interviewing and observing college life―with students of different races, genders, sexual orientations, and socioeconomic backgrounds―Hirsch and Khan’s study reveals the social ecosystem that makes sexual assault so predictable, explaining how physical spaces, alcohol, peer groups, and cultural norms influence young people’s experiences and interpretations of both sex and sexual assault.
Book sales and signing, courtesy of Literati Bookstore, will follow in the Assembly Hall.
Cosponsors: Sexual Assault Prevention and Awareness Center (SAPAC), Departments of American Culture, Sociology, Women’s Studies, School of Education, CEW+ Frances and Sydney Lewis Visiting Leaders Fund
CSHPE doctoral candidate Kamaria Porter receives IRWG Research Fellowship
Kamaria Porter, doctoral candidate in the Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education, is among ten graduate students to receive Rackham Community of Scholars summer fellowships awarded by The Institute for Research on Women and Gender. Awards were granted to students from disciplines in the humanities, social sciences, public health, and education who are engaged in scholarly research or other creative projects focusing on women, gender or sexuality.
All awardees participate in a weekly interdisciplinary seminar during May and June, with time for individual research during July and August. Awardees will present their work at a public symposium in Fall 2019. The students were selected from a highly competitive pool. Their diverse set of projects demonstrates the scope of women and gender studies at U-M.
Title IX Project mobilizes students, faculty to speak out against new Title IX regulations
“According to Porter, the new proposal seeks to legalize the hearing process. All cases will now include a live hearing where both sides are mandated to go through cross-examinations. A similar decision was made by the Sixth Circuit Court last September which mandates the University adopt similar practices to the new regulation.
“It’s making it look like even more of a criminal trial-like procedure than an educational procedure you would find in a student conduct hearing,” Porter said. “The people running it — higher educational professionals — aren’t trained to be lawyers, be judges and operate in a criminal legal space. They’re educators, they want to help students go beyond their worst act. And they want to support students to heal in order to access education. The process doesn’t match the people that will be doing it.”
Porter said the move towards mandating cross-examinations also introduces new problems of inequality and accessibility, claiming discrepancies between legal representatives and advisers in a misconduct case may make the decision process unfair.”
Comment writing event works to express opinions on new Title IX regulations
“Currently, the Department of Education is considering public input on these regulations in what is called a “notice and comment period.” The Department of Education is required to respond to every comment. Well-informed and data-driven comments were encouraged by Kamaria Porter, Title IX graduate research supervisor and doctoral candidate in Higher Education, who helped lead the presentation. Currently, there are approximately 50,000 comments submitted.
The Title IX Project research predicts passing all new regulations would have a negative effect on survivors’ reporting ability and psychological health. Porter started her presentation by highlighting the protective regulation rollbacks in the new proposals of Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. Porter touched on was the inability for student survivors to report off-campus incidents.
“One of the first issues is changing what can be investigated,” Porter said. “Currently any incident that occurs on-campus or off-campus amongst students that attend the University can be reported and investigated.”
According to the 2015 University of Michigan Climate Survey, undergraduate students reported 79.6 percent of sexual misconduct did not occur on campus and graduate students reported 94.6 percent of misconduct did not occur on campus.”
