Community Forum on Sexual Assault at The University of Montana

Remarks by President Royce C. Engstrom
January 17, 2012

Thank you for attending today. I want to take this opportunity to speak to our community about the recent reported sexual assaults involving UM students. During these comments and the following question and answer period, I will communicate as directly and openly as I am able, recognizing that I must respect certain bounds of confidentiality mandated by the fact that we are a University. I will speak first to the facts as we know them, our approach to date, and actions that we are taking to make the University a safer place for our students. I welcome your questions and comments during the question and answer period, but I won’t go into any additional detail about the investigation itself, because it is ongoing. Nor will I discuss any particular students. I will address questions about our process, policy, services, and education relevant to sexual assault.

Although I can’t give you specific results of the investigation, I want you to know that we take this matter seriously, that we are following well-defined protocol, and that we are concerned for the welfare of our students.

Here are the facts that I can share:

On December 5 and 6, two female students reported to an employee that they had been assaulted. These reported assaults took place as two separate events during the months of November and December. Both of these events were immediately reported upward from the employee, and the employee met with me to inform me on the next morning. I consulted with Lucy France, Director of our Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action Office and the person who oversees our obligations to Title IX, which is the set of federal laws that apply in such matters. Lucy immediately met with the employee and with both female students. I assembled a group that began meeting almost daily. The group included Lucy, Charles Couture (Dean of Students), David Aronofsky (University Legal Counsel), and Jim Foley (Vice President for External Relations). We contacted Gary Taylor, Director of Public Safety, during the initial meeting to make sure he was fully informed and directed him to make contact with Missoula PD, which he did. On December 13, we agreed to contract with an outside person to assist in our investigation. That individual, as many of you know, is Diane Barz, a highly regarded member of our legal system in Montana. Our investigative team is made up of Diane Barz, Lucy France, and Charles Couture.

As a University, we are legally obligated though Title IX to conduct our own investigation, regardless of the involvement of law enforcement. The Missoula PD makes its own determination as to whether to begin an investigation based on the information at their disposal. In addition, because of the allegations that drugs may have been involved in these incidents, Federal Law Enforcement has possible jurisdiction and we have been in communication with them as well.

Our investigation continues aggressively. The team interviewed 30 people before the holiday break, after which access to witnesses has been hindered, but is moving forward full speed in coming days. Diane Barz provided a report on December 31, which we made public, and she will provide the next report near the end of January. As of today, we are not in a position to identify specific individuals as perpetrators, but if and when we do so, we will take every action available to us through the Student Conduct Code and, if applicable, the Student-Athlete conduct code.

Consequently, within a matter of days of the reports from the two students, the students had access our Sexual Assault Resource Center, all relevant law enforcement was notified, all appropriate notification within the University had occurred, and our own investigation was underway. I want you to know that we have taken these reports extremely seriously and will continue to do so.

The Student Conduct Code covers a wide range of behaviors and actions. When a student allegedly violates our code, that student is called before our Dean of Students, Charles Couture. The Dean investigates the matter and puts into effect an appropriate sanction. The student may appeal to the University Court, which makes a recommendation to me as President. We have had a few other events this past fall that invoked the Student Conduct Code, some of them public and some of them not. In every case you have heard of publicly, and in those cases you have not heard about, the Student Conduct Code was applied and where applicable, sanctions for student-athletes also put in place.

My message to you is that when we have appropriate evidence, we implement our conduct code swiftly and decisively.

Three other reports of sexual assaults have surfaced during the course of this investigation, reportedly occurring approximately a year ago. They came to our attention only recently, and we have incorporated them into our investigation.

These two cases call for a discussion about certain aspects of reporting. The first of these involves the role of SARC, the Sexual Assault Resource Center. Because SARC is a part of Curry Health Center, which is a recognized health care organization, it is designed to be a free and confidential resource to students who think they have been subjected to sexual assault. We obviously want students to make use of SARC, and the promise of confidentiality without the requirement for reporting encourages them to do so. We have an excellent staff at SARC and they are experienced in working with students who need assistance. SARC personnel can and do refer students to other resources, such as health care on and off campus, counseling, support groups, and law enforcement including both UM Public Safety and Missoula PD. SARC communicates to victims that if the victim wants to pursue an investigation, those avenues are available to do so. The student must make that choice, however. SARC cannot report the event further without the student initiating the report and students are told that.

One of the cases involved a female student who went to the police somewhat over a year ago reporting sexual assault. We have no indication at this time that she reported to anyone on campus. As we understand it, the Police did not have sufficient evidence to take action, but an officer did report to a campus employee that an incident had occurred and allegedly involved students. The campus employee did not report the incident to the supervisor. This is the “gap” in reporting pointed out by our investigator, Diane Barz. While it should have been reported up the line, no additional action could have been taken without the female herself, reporting the incident to us. To be clear, thorough reporting is critical to ensuring that the student has appropriate access to care and to law enforcement. In this case, Law Enforcement had clearly been involved already. As you will hear momentarily, we are adjusting our procedures to strengthen our reporting protocols.

Let me turn now to additional actions we are taking to make the campus a safer place and to improve our coordination in such instances. Last week, I issued a memorandum to my Cabinet with several assignments. Those assignments include:

1. Campus Education: We will accelerate our campus education program regarding sexual assault. Beginning with spring semester, we will blanket the campus with educational material, making sure we reach all students, faculty, and staff. The educational program must make use of existing campus resources including SARC and should include written material, presentations, and discussions. The message should be at least three-fold: 1) Sexual assault is intolerable at the University and we will do everything in our power to remove assaulters from the learning environment; 2) Excellent resources are available on campus to assist victims of sexual assault and we have a dedicated staff ready to help; 3) We are all responsible to take actions to prevent sexual assault. All education should emphasize the risks associated with alcohol consumption and the misuse of drugs.
   1. Responsible person: Teresa Branch
   2. Deadline: Beginning of spring semester
2. Expectations and Standards: All incoming students should be given the message directly that sexual assault has no place in our society, especially on a university campus. It will not be tolerated. That message must be integrated even more strongly into our orientation sessions for all incoming students, undergraduate and graduate. Because our student-athletes play a special role as ambassadors for the university, the expectations for behavior, on- and off- the playing field, in- and out-of-season, must be defined clearly. I am directing a review of our practices and standards in that regard, with Jim O’Day heading that review. I expect the review to involve coaching staff, the Faculty Athletic Council, the Faculty Athletic Representative, and the Student Athletic Council in addition to any other groups or individuals appropriate to the discussion. To be clear, recent sexual assaults have not been restricted to the student athlete population, but our investigations have indicated a disproportionate association with patterns of behavior of a number of student-athletes. We simply will not tolerate the tarnishing of the proud tradition of Grizzly Athletics.
   1. Responsible persons: Jim O’Day, Teresa Branch
   2. Deadline: February 28
3. Protocol: When students do find themselves in a legal situation, we need clarity on the role of the University. Particular matters relate to accompanying of students to legal representation, communication with Law Enforcement, communication within the University, communication with the media, and communication to the Office of the Commissioner. We must conduct a review of existing policies and practices, and articulate more clearly any necessary changes. This review should include instituting a monthly Sexual Assault Report that is delivered to the President.
   1. Responsible persons: Jim Foley, David Aronofsky
   2. Deadline: February 28

In closing, it is our intent first and foremost to make our campus the safe and supportive environment needed to foster learning, personal growth, and the fulfillment of dreams. Next, it is our intent to deal with these terrible incidents in a manner that supports the victims, and that identifies and punishes the assaulter. Finally, it is our intent to communicate as effectively as we can with the campus and our community within the limitations we have as a University. We do have a strong system in place for addressing sexual assault and I want to publicly thank everyone at the University who has been involved in this matter, and those that are involved in an ongoing way with victims of sexual assault. I particularly want to say that our students are, as a group, dedicated to the university and respectful of one another. We will not allow the actions of a few to ruin the experience or tarnish the reputation of the rest.

Thank you for your attention and your support. I would now ask for any questions you might have. I may call upon others to assist in providing answers.