College students, gov. officials meet to discuss campus sexual misconduct law

BOSTON (WWLP) – Educators, students, advocates, and lawmakers came together for a roundtable discussion on Friday to talk about the impact of a prominent campus sexual misconduct law.

This law works in tandem with Title IX regulations in determining how instances of sexual misconduct should be handled on college campuses, including allowing for anonymous reporting and support outside of police intervention.

The Commissioner of Higher Education explained the importance of these regulations for college students, faculty, and staff. "[It's important] to make sure that they experience the kind of experience that we committed for them to have when they come into these institutions, and that is ensuring that they have all the protections that they're entitled to," said Noe Ortega.

This Massachusetts law was implemented in 2021 and served as a model for new Title IX regulations in the following years. At the panel, counsel and Title IX coordinators from local colleges said these new regulations reaffirmed that they were doing the right thing in their offices.

"This law, and the way that we've implemented it in Massachusetts, is really becoming the beacon and the leading model," said Alex Nally, the Deputy General Counsel for the Department of Higher Education. "It was really exciting to see that the success that we're having here in Massachusetts, and the rights that we guarantee here in Massachusetts, are now being shared across the nation."

In addition to a panel of college and community leaders, college students involved in sexual violence prevention spoke at the roundtable–including a junior at Smith College in Northampton. The next step in the implementation of this law is for all Massachusetts colleges to conduct campus environment surveys.

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