LSU students walk in and out of the Student Union on Monday, March 20, 2023, on Highland Road in Baton Rouge. (Matthew Perschall for Louisiana Illuminator)
Six years after a national sexual assault scandal roiled the state’s flagship university, Louisiana lawmakers question if the reporting system implemented in its wake provides enough information.
In 2020, LSU became engulfed in controversy following a USA Today investigative report that revealed how the university mishandled sexual misconduct complaints against student-athletes. A subsequent probe revealed a number of institutional problems regarding Title IX, the federal law that covers sex-based discrimination in the realm of education.
The next year, Louisiana lawmakers strengthened state laws around campus sexual misconduct, creating a new category called power-based violence that includes Title IX offenses and other related abuse. A statewide reporting system was also implemented to inform lawmakers, students and families about how often abuse happens and how state colleges and universities respond to it.
Students and campus employees can report suspected power-based violence and Title IX incidents to their schools, but a relatively small amount of information about these reports is made public. Schools only have to provide basic information, including the type of incident that led to the formal complaint, the investigation status, the gender of the people involved and what discipline, if any, was issued.
The first of Louisiana’s power-based violence reports was made public in January 2023, reflecting data collected the prior fall. But they only give a partial picture of what survivor advocates say is a much bigger sexual violence problem on Louisiana campuses.
“This is not acceptable for me. And just because this is how it’s been done, this is how it’s written, doesn’t mean that it’s right,” state Sen. Regina Barrow, D-Baton Rouge, said of the state’s power-based violence processes. “The president of every university should be carrying the torch for Title IX to be recognized on the campus.”
The reports only include details on the small percentage of reports elevated to “formal complaints” and assigned to investigators. Left out is information on hundreds, if not thousands, of allegations involving rape, sexual assault, sexual harassment, dating violence and other offenses that never make it that far.
According to state policy, each allegation is reviewed by Title IX investigators to determine whether, if true, it could be a prohibited offense. The review also determines whether the incident meets certain other criteria, such as whether the university has jurisdiction over the matter. A school does not have jurisdiction over incidents that occur off-campus or when one party is not a student or employee. Some reported claims aren’t formally investigated at the request of the complainant.
The available records don’t provide outcomes for confirmed complaints that are appealed, meaning that even if a complaint ends with punishment being doled out, the public might never know if that decision was overturned.
The power-based violence reports also fail to provide details about cases with outcomes still pending at the end of the reporting period. Of the more than 300 formal complaints at Louisiana’s public colleges and universities since 2022, dozens are listed as pending, skewing the already limited data on how schools are handling misconduct cases. These pending investigations are not carried over to the next year, and previous year reports are not updated to reflect their outcomes.
The incomplete picture concerned lawmakers at last week’s meeting of the Power-Based Violence Review Panel, a public body required to meet twice annually to discuss campus sexual violence.
Barrow and Beth Mizell, R-Franklinton, pushed for more data on the total number of incidents and the outcomes of any appeals.
Brianna Golden-Phillips, the Board of Regents’ director of government affairs, said in a statement that moving forward, the reports would be updated to include information about appeals and the ratio of total incident reported to formal complaints.
Some of the information not currently required to be reported to the legislature — namely the total number of incidents for LSU’s main campus — can be found scattered across dozens of documents, but most of the information, including total incidents for every other school in the state, is not accessible to the public.
The Illuminator has reached out to Louisiana’s 31 colleges and universities, which enroll more than 200,000 students, for the missing information about appeals, total number of reported incidents and cases pending at the end of each reporting period. With the exception of McNeese State University, every school provided only partial responses and suggested public records requests could be filed for the rest. The Illuminator has formally asked for the additional data.
State agencies are legally required to provide public documents when requested, but the process is often complicated, lengthy and expensive, making it inaccessible for much of the general public.
Of the 336 power-based violence and Title IX allegations elevated to formal complaints over the four-year period, 30 investigations found that wrongdoing occurred. A total of two students were permanently removed from their respective campuses.
At LSU’s main campus, there were 880 incidents reported of which 38 were formalized. At McNeese, there were 61 leading to 19 formal complaints.
Across the 12 schools and 65 campuses in the Louisiana Community and Technical College System, there were 249 incidents reported, and 99 became formal complaints.
Other than LSU and McNeese, information has not yet been provided to the Illuminator from the rest of the schools in the LSU and University of Louisiana systems or from the Southern University System about how many total incidents have been reported. These schools enroll the majority of students at Louisiana’s four-year colleges.
The power-based violence reports also show that despite the relatively small number of incidents that are investigated, the process can often take months.
Not including pending cases at the end of the reporting periods, the average time to complete an investigation ranged from 45.5 days in the University of Louisiana System to 89 days for the LSU System, in which the most formal complaints were logged at the flagship campus in Baton Rouge.
While some cases are closed within days or weeks, others linger. One rape investigation at LSU remained open for more than seven months before the alleged perpetrator was found not to be responsible.
Of the cases still pending when reporting periods ended each October, some had been open for as long as six months.
In the 30 instances where an alleged perpetrator was found to be responsible for the offense, the punishment varied widely. Some students found liable for sexual misconduct, stalking and dating violence were allowed to remain at their schools as long as they attended counseling and participated in community service. In some instances, they were also issued no-contact orders and assigned training about sexual misconduct.
Two students have been expelled for power-based violence incidents since schools have been required to report the incidents to the state: a Southern University student found responsible for sexual assault and a SOWELA Technical Community College student for threatening behavior. The reports do not include information about whether the students were reported to the police or faced any criminal consequences.
Nine other students received suspensions.
The number of investigations doesn’t necessarily correlate to a school’s student population.
Of the four-year institutions, LSU, Louisiana Tech, Northwestern State, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette and the University of Louisiana at Monroe had among the lowest rates of formal complaints per student. McNeese and Grambling had among the highest rates.
McNeese spokeswoman Tanya Brewster said it’s a good sign McNeese has a high investigation rate.
“We have a strong culture of reporting misconduct,” Brewster said. “Also, our administrative team is very transparent in what we release. Finally, we err on the side of caution in our reporting. Sometimes reports can be interpreted as Student Code of Conduct matters rather than (power-based violence or) Title IX. However, we lump them all in, in the spirit of transparency.”
The appeals process for Title IX and power-based violence sustained accusations is front of mind for policymakers after Kendall Francis, an LSU student, publicized her experience at the university when she accused football player Damien Shanklin of rape. The Illuminator typically does not identify victims of alleged sexual assault, but Francis has openly used her name when sharing her story on social media.
In a series of TikTok videos, Francis said that although the university’s Title IX process found Shanklin responsible for rape and ultimately suspended him, he was able to appeal his punishment and return to campus — and the football field. The incident is currently the topic of a criminal investigation, East Baton Rouge District Attorney Hillar Moore has said.
That appeals process is currently not reflected in the public power-based violence reports. Campus sexual misconduct cases can be appealed on procedural grounds, over an alleged conflict of interest or when new evidence comes to light.
Brewster said none of McNeese’s outcomes were appealed. No other school has provided details regarding its cases that were appealed.
The relatively small number of formal complaints was highlighted by lawmakers at last week’s power-based violence review panel meeting.
“Something’s really wrong when either the incidents aren’t turning into a formal complaint because it’s such an onerous process, or there’s such a lack of trust that anything can come of me coming forward. But y’all got to tell us what we need to do,” Sen. Beth Mizell told university leaders.
Campus leaders cited several reasons why more incidents are not investigated. Some reports are made anonymously, while others are made by campus employees required to report any alleged sexual misconduct they are made aware of. Students may also opt not to pursue a formal investigation, instead requesting supportive measures such as counseling or housing relocations.
Additionally, some complaints result in informal resolutions, in which both parties mutually agree to end the investigation.
Campus sexual violence is not unique to Louisiana.
One in four female undergraduate students will experience some form of sexual misconduct, according to RAINN, an anti-sexual violence organization, compared with about 7% of male students.
Lawmakers and university leaders agree that changing the culture is a necessary factor in solving the problem. Monica Taylor, Gov. Jeff Landry’s director of community programs and planning, took part in the review panel hearing and referenced comedian Shane Gillis’ recent controversial monologue on “Saturday Night Live” as indicative of the current climate.
“It’s hard to fight (the culture) when you have a comedian, who’s not even funny, go on SNL this weekend and try and make a joke … ‘Since when do women go to the gym dressed like whores?’” Taylor said.
