Title IX Purges

 I met my institution's new official in charge of Title IX things. I inquired about how the bios of all confidential supporters had been purged from the website (since confidential support falls under his purview). [In case you don't know, confidential supporters undergo special training in university systems related to matters of sexual assault and abuse. Most faculty and staff are mandatory reporters; if a student tells them they were sexually assaulted, the employee must report that to the nearest Title IX representative. Confidential supporters are exempted from mandatory reporting for the most part. Students can come to us for advice about what to do next without fear that they'll be forced into a process that may not respect their anonymity.]

The guy had just started in January, and I knew I was pitching him a bit of a difficult scenario. A colleague on zoom (bless her) backed me up, pointing out that the bios serve an important purpose. Students may want to know who among us confidential supporters are queer, Christian, feminist, etc. Removing our bios removes helpful information from students. 

I suppose I expected him to sigh, shake his head, talk about how that decision was out of his hands, and perhaps promise to help us put up some bios that would still inform students about each of us while still passing anti-DEI muster. 

Instead, the official averred that the site was changed to better reflect the aims of Title IX and the confidential supporter system. Since you're all confidential supporters, he said (basically), we decided that having just your names, contact info, and pictures was best so that students know they can go to each of you. I griped a bit at that. How would that rationale justify removing our bios? I asked. The status quo ante fulfilled that goal just as well. What was wrong with our bios? My colleague on zoom concurred.

The man basically repeated the same line, suggesting that this was not sudden, ignoring the rest of the purge, and omitting the elephant-in-the-room reason: the "dear colleagues" letter. 

Then he left.

As I mentioned to the staff that remained after the workshop, the official's dissembling bothered me almost more than the removal did. It signaled clearly whose side he was on: not ours, not the students', and not the goals of diversity, equity, or inclusion. 

I don't know the guy's heart. Perhaps he is, behind the scenes, engaged in elaborate strategies to preserve systems of justice and equity, and his public support of the purge (not just support but whitewashing) is a necessary maneuver in that larger war. I don't know.

But that's not the impression I got.