Wichita to improve popular dog park, other dog parks will have to wait
18 April 2023
HESSTON, Kan. (KSNW) — A new report criticizes how Hesston College responds to reports of sexual assaults and misconduct.
Last fall, students staged a walkout, claiming victims were dropping out of school while their accused attackers were not punished.
In response, Hesston College hired an independent research organization, Cozen O’Connor, to review the school’s policies and practices related to “sexual and gender-based harassment and violence” under Title IX and the Clery Act.
Cozen O’Connor’s team of attorneys interviewed Hesston College students, faculty, staff, alums, parents, and many others. They also reviewed the college’s procedures, and all 35 Title IX reports filed over the past five years.
The final report is 64 pages long. The college has posted it on its website, along with a letter of apology.
Main findings
The independent report found that Hesston College “satisfied the minimum requirements of Title IX.” But it said that the “college’s response to reports of sexual and gender-based violence and harassment was inconsistent with the federal legal framework in many instances.”
Cozen O’Connor found that the college:
Failed to consistently respond to and assess reports of sexual and gender-based harassment and violence
Failed to provide complainants with consistent care, access to supportive measures, and information about procedural rights in response to individuals who made reports
Improperly used informal resolution to resolve concerns about sexual and gender-based harassment
Generally reflected significant gaps in subject matter expertise that directly and negatively impacted and harmed student complainants
Actions Hesston College has taken since student protests
Last fall, the student protesters presented the college with a list of demands. They are listed on pages 9 and 10 of the report.
The college said it listened to the students’ concerns and took several actions, including:
Made the counselor’s job a full-time position instead of part-time, beginning in the 2023-2024 academic year
Removed the portrait of Hesston College’s founding president, D.H. Bender (see page 14 of the report)
Removed the vice president of student life from the Title IX Policy as an alternate person who can receive Title IX reports
Named a female faculty member as a non-mandatory reporter
Hesston College’s plans based on the report
The college says it will develop a plan to implement all the recommendations in the report. The goals include:
Increase resources for training and supporting school teachers, staff and administrators to prevent sexual harassment and assault
Meet the complete requirements of Title IX reporting
Support survivors with compassion
Scrutinize all aspects of how the school deals with Title IX complaints
Follow up with and support those affected by Title IX decisions
Act upon “the reality that while the principle and practice of restorative conflict resolution is fundamental to many aspects of Hesston’s campus life, it has no place in addressing matters of gender-based harassment and violence”
Message to Hesston College community
Hesston College President Joseph Manickam and Board Chair Ken Kabira co-authored a letter to the school community. Click here for the full letter.
“We want to share with you, as two people who love Hesston College and believe in its mission, that we found reading this report and its descriptions of how we have failed our students painful, humbling and saddening,” the two wrote. “To our students who were impacted by the college’s failures, we extend our own and the college’s most sincere apologies. We commit to doing all that we can to earn back your trust in the college.”
They said that in many aspects of the college’s response to Title IX reports, “the college has been insensitive to the experiences and needs of our students, making traumatic experiences worse. That is both heartbreaking and beyond unacceptable. Hesston must be better than this.”
They thanked the people who agreed to be interviewed by the Cozen O’Connor team. Manickam and Kabira said they “will work with Cozen O’Connor to initiate prompt restorative outreach to those affected by the college’s insufficient actions in response to their efforts.”
The school has created a dedicated email address for questions, concerns and feedback from the Hesston community: [email protected].
If a student experiences or is aware of any sexual assault, sexual harassment, or other sexual misconduct on campus or during school activities, they are encouraged to report it to the Hesston College Title IX office.