THE PLEX LIGHTS UP
CHRISTIAN YOUTH GROUP
FEATURES
ARTS & REVIEW
SPORTS
There are BC recreational activities aplenty this winter, A5
The Chainsmokers headlined CAB’s annual Plexapalooza this weekend, B8
Jim Christian’s developing Eagles remain winless in the ACC with a loss to UNC, B1
GET REC’D
www.bcheights.com
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The Independent Student Newspaper of Boston College Monday, February 1, 2016
Vol. XCVII, No. 4
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An alumnus recently filed a Title IX investigation against Boston College through the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) after being found responsible for a sexual assault in 2012. The student served a three-semester suspension, but DNA evidence released the February following his suspension did not corroborate the student’s guilt. The
student maintains he was wrongly accused. As a result, the student filed a lawsuit against the University on Dec. 4, 2015, complaining that the school is in violation of Title IX, seeking damages and that BC be mandated to comply with Title IX. Katie O’Dair, BC’s Title IX coordinator, said that this lawsuit lands BC on the list of 161 institutions who are under review. “This is the first time BC has been involved in an OCR investigation of a
sexual violence complaint,” O’Dair said in an email. “Boston College is fully cooperating with the OCR in its review.” O’Dair explained that the general protocol for an OCR investigation involves the OCR’s requesting information about policies, procedures, and cases, and possibly conducting interviews and a site visit. The Title IX coordinator could not share any case-specific details, nor could Dean of Students Thomas Mogan, who deferred
the conversation to O’Dair. According to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Postsecondary Education’s Campus Safety and Security Data Analysis, there were a total of 22 reported rape occurrences on campus in 2014 in on-campus student housing facilities. This goes alongside 11 reported occurrences of forcible sex offences on campus in 2013, 10 of which were in on-campus student housing facilities. In
the same records, Boston University had five on-campus rapes reported in 2014, and 8 forcible sex offences in 2013, while Harvard University had a reported 33 oncampus rapes in 2014, and 35 forcible sex offences in 2013. Data for 2015 has not yet been reported. After the Association of American Universities released a survey covering
See Title IX, A3
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STIRRING THE POT
MACKENZI MARINOVICH / THE OBSERVER
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Boston College has created a new strategic-planning committee called University Strategic Planning Initiative (USPI). The group plans to help identify institutional spending priorities for the next decade. The campaign is part of a cycle at BC, which consists of creating a new planning committee to understand where the University is performing well and where it is lacking, and then hosting a fundraising campaign to support the changes that the University needs to make, Provost and Dean of Faculties David Quigley said. From 2003 to 2007, the University Assessment and Programming Initiative (UAPI) conducted research at BC. Based on those findings, the University launched the Light the World campaign, which raised $1.5 billion. Though the University just announced that Light the World had reached its goal, the money has already been spent on improvements at BC, including the building of Stokes Hall and the hiring of 100 faculty members, Quigley explained. USPI will conduct internal analyses of all eight schools at BC, gather infor-
mation and ideas from BC community members, and identify specific areas where BC should focus. It hopes to create a strategic plan for the University’s Board of Trustees to review within the next 18 to 24 months. “The process is just getting started,” Quigley said. The creation of the committee began in December, according to University Spokesman Jack Dunn, when members of USPI met in December at an orientation session to define what their goals would be and how the program would work. USPI’s ultimate goal, Quigley said, is to understand how the University has changed over the past 10 years since the last committee completed its analysis. They will look at the present strengths and weaknesses of BC and plan where they want BC to be 10 years from now. University President Rev. William P. Leahy, S.J., appointed Quigley and Executive Vice President Michael J. Lochhead as the co-chairs of the committee. The two leaders will work with a steering committee composed of four faculty members, two deans, and two students. The co-chairs’ roles, Lochhead explained, are to provide coordination and structure to the committee.
See USPI, A3
8]k\i Gifk\jk# Ê<iX[`ZXk\Ë D\dY\ij ;`jZ`gc`e\[ 9P JFG?@< I<8I;FE 8jjfZ% E\nj <[`kfi Five members of Eradicate Boston College Racism have received disciplinary action following the group’s protest in December that took the form of caroling, according to Gloria McGillen, LGSOE ’17, and Kevin Ferreira, LGSOE ’19. The five students were contacted by Dean of Students Thomas Mogan Dec. 15 and asked to meet with him. They were cited for disruption and unregistered protesting, McGillen said. Each member responded that he or she would be able to meet with Mogan after winter break, given that they were contacted during finals week. Due to federal privacy laws, Mogan could not comment on any potential matters of student conduct. So far, four of the five students have met with Mogan, according to McGillen. “I asked Dean Mogan why I was selected and why the other people who were present were selected,” McGillen said in an email. “He stated that he chose students who he saw both at the caroling and at the workshop about direct actions, which was hosted on campus by Eradicate’s Graduate Student
Association.” At this meeting in December, Eradicate educated students about direct action and introduced its 12 Days of Institutional Racism campaign, which it hosted from Dec.1 to 12. “We will continue to protest around the issues of institutional racism until the concerns of students of color that have been raised and now backed by UGBC are concretely addressed by the administration,” McGillen said. The resolution via conversation, according to the student handbook, is not a stage of the conduct system that comes with particular sanctions. But if the students are found in violation of these rules again, they could face larger consequences. The Office of the Dean of Students has successfully registered at least five demonstrations on campus this year, Mogan said. Students and student organizations are required to register demonstrations, he said. This is standard protocol for colleges and universities across the country. Last semester, when Eradicate posted fliers with infographics on them around campus without the administration’s approval, Mogan met with them to explain JULIA HOPKINS / HEIGHTS EDITOR
See Eradicate, A3
In early December, members of Eradicate BC Racism participated in a Christmas carol parody protest, resulting in disciplinary action.