USC to implement training, new processes in response to sexual harassment allegations

The University of South Carolina is promising additional reforms following allegations the university failed to adequately respond to sexual harassment complaints.

USC will change the way claims of sexual misconduct are handled by increasing the number of employees in the university’s Title IX office, requiring additional training starting Monday for all employees and creating a single form to report ”sexual and gender-based harassment and violence,” in an attempt to streamline the process, according to an email sent by USC Interim President Harris Pastides.

Title IX is the federal law that prevents sex-based discrimination in higher education.

The email from Pastides is the second round of promised changes following several lawsuits and an investigative report by The State newspaper that exposed documented allegations of sexual harassment at the university that accusers say were mishandled.

The first round of changes, announced by then-President Robert Caslen two days after The State’s March report, promised USC would hire an independent Title IX coordinator, create an office of Sexual Harassment, Sexual Misconduct, and Interpersonal Violence that reports to the university president and form a committee that will review every allegation of sexual misconduct before a ruling is made.

The most recent promised changes were created after research from a consultant group and a Title IX task force, Pastides said.

Pastides also defended USC’s handling of past allegations of sexual harassment. In one of those cases, a theater professor had admitted to sending several sexually explicit texts to a student and didn’t deny kissing her in the workplace. The professor called the texts “witty banter” between friends, and USC found he had not violated policy.

“Several individual Title IX cases from the past have generated concern about the university’s approach to handling harassment claims. Although reviews of these Title IX complaints affirmed that internal administrative procedures for handling these cases were appropriately followed and were in compliance with laws and policies in place at the time of each investigation, we can and must do more to instill trust in our processes,” Pastides said.

This story was originally published October 14, 2021 at 12:26 PM.