12 The Roslyn Times, Friday, January 13, 2017
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DOT seeks abuse solutions at USMMA Report says Merchant Marine Academy must change its culture and form new policies BY J OE N I K I C An independent auditor’s report commissioned by the U.S. Department of Transportation found that the United States Merchant Marine Academy must address a history of sexual harassment and assault at the institution by developing a comprehensive plan, change a culture of fear and form policies to improve sexual assault reporting. The Logistics Management Institute report, which was released last Friday, states that a culture of “fear of reprisal and retaliation is a huge driver that causes midshipmen not to report incidents of sexual assault and sexual harassment” at the Kings Point-based academy. The report also states that programs at the academy aimed at addressing sexual assault and harassment “tend to be reactive rather than based on a unified, strategic approach” and that academy leaders needed to present a “unified message” regarding sexual assault and harassment. “The audit reinforces what
Kings Point-based United States Merchant Marine Academy the Defense Manpower Data Center, the Middle States Commission on Higher Education, the USMMA Advisory Board and our numerous interactions with
midshipman have told us; that while the academy’s culture is grounded in a sense of service, discipline and teamwork, our young people are at far greater
risk of sexual assault and harassment than they should be and that there are things we can do now and over the longer term to put a stop to it,” U.S. Transpor-
tation Secretary Anthony Foxx wrote to the academy’s superintendent, Rear Adm. James Helis, in a letter following the report’s Continued on Page 60
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