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Speakers used their remaining time to thank each other for standing up, and as survivors returned to their seats, they were embraced by friends who came to support them. Still, solidarity was the strongest emotion. The frustration, disappointment, and fear in the theater were palpable, and administrators could be seen shaking their heads at some of the statements. The Wash didn’t hear anything further from her office. The Wash spoke with Reynold’s at the listening session, and she said she had no comment on any statements made by students but would email if she changed her mind. She claims she was told by GW’s Title IX Director Asha Reynolds, “I can’t do anything unless they’re a bomb threat.” She spoke about leaving the university a few weeks into school after she reported her assault to Title IX.
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The final speaker joined from home via Zoom. is redesigning the barring process based on SASA recommendations. As a result, outcomes have been highly irregular. Others were told by Title IX that barring would be put in place pending the outcome of investigations, just to learn that it is up to the discretion of GW police to enforce it. Some students said they were “ghosted” after meetings with investigators, calling the office weeks later to discover their case had not progressed because an employee had left. Survivors who spoke meticulously chronicled dates of meetings and what they were told by Title IX officers and GW police. She was only able to have him barred from campus for a semester after Title IX found him guilty of sexual assault, she said. GW student Abby Canning spotted her assailant, who is now an alum, in the student center last week and said she has now withdrawn from classes. A few survivors echoed each other’s sentiments that “they have no reason to be here.” Survivors said the reluctance to bar perpetrators from campus also applies to alumni and individuals who were never a part of the GW community to begin with. I think we recognize that the Title IX office is absolutely limited by federal policy … but we also have to realize that the way cases are handled at GW have caused further harm for survivors. Title IX is a federal policy that prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or education program that receives federal funding. The Wash agreed to keep the identities of participants confidential unless expressly given permission to name them.Įach survivor recounted their interactions with the Title IX office and the GW Police Department piece by piece, laying bare years of inconsistency in the university’s practices and an unwillingness to bar or expel those found guilty of sexual assault. She briefly addressed the crowd and participants on Zoom, saying administrators were asked to attend but not speak, before returning to her seat.Ĭomplete silence enveloped the room as sexual assault survivors began to speak in person and via Zoom, with Hoadley-Brill reading anonymous submissions between speakers. The final opening remark came from Claire Coleman, the director of the Office of Student Rights. “Today, we are just here to be able to identify and acknowledge harm,” Hoadley-Brill said. He says the space will attempt to address the “harm perceived to be caused by GW administration’s policies and offices, to be stated, acknowledged and processed.” “The goal of this event is to allow survivors to have control over their own experiences and narrative,” Hoadley-Brill said. Taking the time to list each administrator by name, title and office, Hoadley-Brill said, “I wanted to recognize these folks by name, because this is a listening session for everybody who’s here in this space, and we are looking to move forward collaboratively.” He thanked the 27 campus organizations that co-sponsored the event and the administrators in attendance. SASA Co-President Will Hoadley-Brill waited for a lull in conversation to address the gathering of students and GW representatives. The student center provided a space for sexual assault survivors to be heard by administrators. Students and administrators alike filed into the small Amphitheater, tucked away on the third floor of the Student Center, slowly Wednesday evening, appearing nervous of what to expect from the session. This “listening session” marked the first time the organization Students Against Sexual Assault had been able to get GW administration in the room to hear about students’ experiences. Feelings of solidarity, frustration and fear filled the room when survivors shared their stories about the harm caused by George Washington University administrators’ actions and inaction in the wake of sexual assaults.