This week, the Hamilton Sexual Misconduct Board (HSMB) report came out, listing all the reports and complaints filed with the Title IX office last year. In a chilling replay of last October’s release of the 2015-16 HSMB report that spurred survivor activism, the Hamilton Sexual Misconduct Board and Title IX office has once again failed the members of our community most affected by these reports. Out of twenty-two reports, eight were formal complaints. Of those eight reports, two sanctions were handed out. The two sanctions that had been handed out were expulsions; none of the remaining reports came with any points or other sanction. Two sanctions, because one respondent received three of the four expulsions.

While the report includes a paragraph at the end, after all the points have been listed, that says, “Please note that the matters referenced above may include cases with common parties,” it is common for students to read the points and close the email. Students who have no knowledge of the Title IX office’s past shortcomings would look at the points and think that four separate students had been expelled. While Ashley Place took a step in the right direction by sending a follow up email to the campus a day later to clarify the fact that the four expulsions came from two respondents, it does not change the fact that it should have been clear from the start, not after the HSMB report went out.

In addition, the fact that no other sanctions were given for any of the other formal complaints listed is extremely concerning. It is especially disconcerting to see that no sanctions had been taken against an employee of Hamilton when a formal complaint had been filed. The lack of the pursuit of points or other sanctions with the remaining complaints demonstrates how the HSMB and the Title IX office have not changed in how seriously they take sexual misconduct on campus.

Survivors on campus are often too aware of how Hamilton does not support them. Survivors on campus are often too aware of the fact that sexual misconduct happens all the time here. But some people are not. The HSMB is supposed to help remedy this, by creating a clear report showing what they are doing (or not doing) to help eradicate the issue. This year, they have misrepresented themselves, whether intentionally or not. The student body deserves to know what is happening.

SMART has been working with survivors to provide support and awareness on campus since the HSMB ‘15- ’16 report came out last October. For those of us who were on campus last fall and remember the upseting circumstances that lead to SMART’s founding, it is disheartening to read the current report and realize nothing has changed. As a campus community, we must continue to push the Title IX office to do more, not less. We must tell them that handing out sanctions to two respondents is not enough. We must do better.