The new Title IX law failed my sister. Reform it so it doesn’t fail again.

It’s heartbreaking to be far away and helpless. The only thing I can do is pick up the phone and talk to my sister. The institution that should protect her, failed. My sister Sophia, a sophomore at Ithaca College, followed all the right steps and instead was taken down a humiliating and random path that helped no one but the students that hurt her.

While working as an orientation leader in August of 2021, she was harassed by two male student athletes. What should be an easy process becomes one akin to her college making it seemingly impossible for her to receive justice.

A grueling three and a half month process including multiple people in Ithaca’s Title IX Office telling her she should not hold a hearing. During midterms she was given a case file, and the only dates offered to her for a hearing were at the end of the semester, during finals week. She was given no information throughout the investigation. All of her work and effort to be heard resulted in nothing to show for it and no one believing her.

My sister’s hearing was a direct result of the Title IX change that became law in 2020. It forced students who are assaulted to be subject to cross examination by the assaulters’ defenders. This also forces the survivor to be in the same live hearing as the attacker. While I understand that Ithaca was following law, the law needs to be reformed. It would be naive for me to think that her experience is unique and that this can change overnight, but there needs to be a stronger effort to push for change. Don’t schools see their students are suffering in this process?

Syracuse University is no stranger to issues with Title IX. As recently as December of 2021 a report found that SU had committed six rule violations regarding Title IX, the most in New York state. SU Student Association’s President David Bruen has acknowledged that he would like to see reform to include more anonymity in the process. Protests on campus in the fall also called for change to Title IX.

Title IX failed my sister, it fails students across the country and will continue to fail students across the country too if there is no reform. The repercussions of her harassment will continue to hurt her and with no justice, they will only enable the students who harassed her.

***

The Daily Orange reached out to Ithaca College’s Title IX office for comment. While it said it cannot comment on specific cases, Linda Koenig, Ithaca College’s Title IX coordinator, said, “We work diligently to make sure each complainant feels empowered to make their own decisions, which includes letting a complainant know that if they engage in a formal complaint process, they have the option to withdraw from that process should they choose to do so at a later point.” Further, she commented on the timing of their process in general, and she added, “It is important to note that we prioritize thoroughness over timeliness so that we may offer a full review of the evidence we gather in relation to the allegations to the decision makers for the hearing. As a result, some cases take fewer than 60 days, while others may take longer.”

Nick Testani, Syracuse University class of 2024