USC hires Title IX director to oversee sexual harassment and discrimination complaints

The University of South Carolina has hired a top official to oversee sexual harassment and discrimination complaints, the university announced Tuesday.

Molly Peirano, who had been the interim Title IX director at Ohio State University since 2020, has been named USC’s assistant vice president for civil rights and Title IX at South Carolina.

“Fulfilling the educational mission of the university depends on an environment where all members of our community feel safe, and where discrimination and harassment is not tolerated,” Peirano, a USC alumna, said in a news release.

Peirano was selected for the recently-created position following a national search, USC said in a news release. She will replace Mark Shook, USC’s dean of students, who had been serving temporarily in that role since March 2021.

Title IX is the 1972 federal law that band sex-based discrimination in higher education.

The position is a part of USC’s response to a series of lawsuits and an investigative report from The State Media Co. that exposed allegations USC mishandled reports of sexual harassment. This is also the first major, interim position to be filled by a long-term employee since Michael Amiridis was named president-elect on Jan. 14 in a unanimous vote by the USC board of trustees.