Hunter College Statement Regarding Settlement with U.S. Department of Education

Hunter College and CUNY recently entered into an agreement effectively closing an investigation by the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) into alleged Title IX violations. In bringing this inquiry to a conclusion, Hunter admitted no liability or wrongdoing and has cooperated fully with all efforts to resolve this issue.  Importantly, even before OCR announced its findings, Hunter and CUNY had already enhanced our response to complaints and our educational outreach on campus, and will continue to do so going forward.​

Only one case was filed with both Hunter and the OCR and that was a sexual misconduct complaint by a student against a professor in 2012.  After concluding its internal investigation, the College chose not to reappoint the faculty member in question, and the individual was moreover barred from seeking or accepting employment at any CUNY institution.  The student then withdrew the complaint from both Hunter and the OCR.  However, OCR, pursuant to its longterm practice, reviewed the case as well as other complaints that Hunter acted upon during the time period from 2011-2013. OCR found some nominal procedural errors in some of these cases as well as shortcomings in CUNY's overall sexual misconduct policy, which had already been updated and improved.  

Most importantly, there was no finding by OCR that Hunter did not seriously investigate any of these cases or that we failed to provide appropriate responses. 

Above all, please know that we remain deeply committed to maintaining an educational environment that is safe and comfortable for all-one that lives up to the full protection of the law and the cherished spirit of the Hunter community.  Should anyone ever feel a need to report a situation, please reach out to John Rose (jtrose@hunter.cuny.edu), Hunter's Title IX Coordinator, and be assured that any complaint will be kept confidential and treated seriously, and that you will receive a prompt response.