University of Michigan, Michigan State Both Face Title IX Investigation

Investigators from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights will visit Michigan State this week as part of an investigation into the university’s policies and practices for handling reports of sexual assault on campus.  Details about this matter are sparse and it is unclear at least to me whether this investigation is responsive to complaint received by OCR, or initiated by the agency itself. 

The University of Michigan is also under investigation for its handling of student’s 2009 report that she had been raped by a football player, Brendan Gibbons. Gibbons was expelled in December for violating the university’s sexual misconduct policy.  My guess is that the timing of this result is what gave rise to the complaint, as Title IX requires schools to conduct disciplinary proceedings in a prompt and equitable manner.