Two of the public universities that we highlighted in our episodes about secrecy in Title IX investigations continue to make bad headlines about their handling of major cases.
In what the Lansing State Journal called a “scathing report,” the Michigan Attorney General’s office said the university is a place with a “culture of indifference and institutional protection” and said “an institution truly interested in the truth would not have acted as MSU has.”
In episode 9, we talked to a former Title IX investigator turned advocate, Liz Abdnour, about her experience with secrecy inside MSU, and how she’s dealing with it now as she fights for her clients.
And at Louisiana State University, an independent investigation by Husch Blackwell concluded that the university has consistently mishandled allegations of sexual misconduct. Blackwell released a 262-page report that revealed that LSU’s system of reporting that was made to fail.
LSU’s investigation began in 2012 when its football coach, Les Miles, allegedly attempted to sexualize the group of female students working for the team.
Blackwell’s investigation established that LSU’s reporting policies were unclear, there was no adequate training and the Title IX office was not suitably staffed nor given the necessary independence.
In episode 10, we talked to three former LSU students who said the university is keeping their own records from them in an effort to hide details of their allegations of misconduct.
There is an underlying thread at both MSU and LSU: secrecy being used as a weapon against the students that are supposed to be protected by their universities.