Following the Title IX investigation regarding the USC Song Girls, there have been conversations on campus amongst students and faculty on how USC addresses diversity, equity, and inclusion, or DEI. Caitlin Calfo has more.
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Title IX is a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination in schools or education programs that receive federal funding. USC is actively making an effort to create spaces for DEI to be brought to the forefront.
Vice President and Title IX Coordinator Catherine Spear and Vice President and Chief Inclusion and Diversity Officer Christopher Manning emphasize that fostering a community with diverse viewpoints is a high priority. In their statement to Annenberg Media they said “there is nothing more important than making sure that anyone who spends time in our community feels secure and is treated with respect.”
Along with other initiatives, the Office of Inclusion and Diversity and the Office for Equity, Equal Opportunity, and Title IX are working closely together to develop “DEI trainers who will have a curriculum on inclusive teaching in their learning modules.” These DEI trainers “will be available to work with academic units across the university to expand the professional development in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion.”
As the Vice President of USC Student Government, Lucy Warren gives insight on the students’ perspectives and future goals on campus. Warren works closely with the Title IX office and says that she notices a disconnect between the student body and the Title IX administrators.
The student body has a general lack of awareness on how to utilize their resources. Honestly, I didn’t know what their resources were until I had an initial meeting with Title IX and learned that they can provide things way beyond just the hearing process. They can provide services like getting you out of a class, providing you accommodations, connecting you with OSAC, finding you a new apartment, making sure you have a cop or security officer to walk you to and from home, whatever you need. They are really there to support you.
Warren hopes to bridge this gap by educating the student body about utilizing their resources and understanding how to report Title IX cases.
There’s several ways to report to title nine and because students get lost and because of that students do not utilize those reporting methods. Having a centralized misconduct reporting form and adding that to classroom syllabi has also been something that we’ve been working on.
Former USC Song Girl, Josie Bullen, encourages students to utilize Title IX. Bullen’s statement to the LA Times about the Song Girl’s case says “Our one and only goal in going to the school and telling our stories was to ensure that no student would experience what we did. The findings of this investigation are providing a huge step forward in accomplishing that. Thinking back to my year on the team is difficult, but it is healing to know that the program is moving forward in a positive direction. The USC Song girls program is an iconic part of university tradition and we truly want the program to have longevity in USC’s history.”
Although there are current efforts put in place, there is still work to be done to ensure that all on-campus communities feel safe and heard.