UConn Today Story: UConn Releases Results of Annual Safety Reports

Official Announcement from the President on September 25, 2017

To the UConn Community,

I write with two updates.

On Friday, the U.S. Department of Education rescinded prior guidance and published new guidance regarding how universities should address sexual violence under Title IX.

After reviewing these guidance documents closely, I want students, faculty, and staff to know that UConn remains steadfastly committed to both preventing sexual violence and responding with compassion to victim-survivors when incidents do occur. Nothing in Friday’s action alters or diminishes those efforts. Our Policy Against Discrimination, Harassment, and Related Interpersonal Violence remains in full effect. We will continue to do the important work of ensuring that our university community is free from all forms of sex-based discrimination and violence, just as we were before. This commitment is unwavering.

Also, yesterday the White House issued a new order related to entry into the U.S. This new presidential proclamation follows the prior Executive Order 13780 that limited entry to the United States by nationals of six designated countries and ordered a thorough review of visa screening capabilities for all countries. We know that the Department of Homeland Security has identified eight countries, five of which were included in the last 90-day restriction, whose vetting standards are not considered acceptable for broad visa issuance and should be subject to certain restrictions individualized by country. New countries identified through the review process include Chad, North Korea and Venezuela, while restrictions have been lifted for Sudan.

We will conduct outreach to the university community and those potentially affected once all the implications of the document are more clearly understood.

Just as we work to protect our community from sexual violence and gender discrimination, we are committed to maintaining our status as a global university of great diversity, in every sense of the word. From our renowned Human Rights Institute to our medical outreach to countries in need and countless other efforts, our international leadership is precious to this university.

Sincerely,

Susan Herbst

A statement from Elizabeth Conklin, Title IX Coordinator  was issued regarding the U.S. Department of Education announcement on September 7 that it will be holding a public comment period before issuing new regulations and/or guidance concerning how colleges and universities should address sexual harassment and sexual violence under Title IX.