A group of students rallied on the San Jose State University (SJSU) campus Oct. 12, calling for the school to have a stronger stance against sexual misconduct.
The rally took place when the Department of Justice visited Silicon Valley universities this week.
“SJSU failed to respond to 10 years of [a] student reporting being sexually assaulted by an athletic trainer on our campus,” Vanessa Becerra, a member of the group Students Against Sexual Assault, said in a press conference outside Tower Hall.
Becerra was referring to the case of former athletic trainer Scott Shaw of SJSU, who was accused of sexually harassing students.
She said, “The DOJ found that because of SJSU’s negligence and active measures to hide reports and retaliate against those reporting, more students were sexually assaulted.”
The student group asked for three actions from the university: the release of the CSU chancellor’s office’s investigative report that was completed in May; the removal of the staff involved in the case regarding the former athletic trainer; and for all six positions of the Title IX office to be staffed.
“Our students deserve better. The survivors deserve justice,” said Karlie Eacock, cofounder of Students Against Sexual Assault. “We deserve a campus that is responsive to sexual violence and sex discrimination.”
Eacock stated that her organization has evidence of “complicit staff members” allegedly receiving physical reports of sexual assault cases over a span of 10 years.
The student-led protest came as the Department of Justice (DOJ) intended to hold a meeting to hear from the campus community about concerns regarding sexual discrimination and the universities’ efforts to respond to sexual assault in its Title IX office.
In September 2021, the Department of Justice reported that SJSU did not fully comply with federal prohibitions against sex discrimination under Title IX. The school and the DOJ entered a resolution agreement.
As part of the resolution agreement between SJSU and the DOJ, the university is now obliged to establish a Title IX and Gender Equity Office.
SJSU said in a statement that they have searched for experienced Title IX professional staff, which has been a challenge for colleges and universities across the country. Despite difficulties, the university has added four new members since February, including a Title IX investigator.
The Students Against Sexual Assault group plans to have another rally on Nov. 2.
The students hope to receive released findings from the chancellor’s investigative report, as well as updates from the Department of Justice.
