Huffington Post
1.19.16 | Tyler Kingkade
Recent allegations say the college referred to choking as "erotic asphyxiation without consent."
Two federal complaints alleging Bard College violated gender equity law Title IX were filed against the school last month, shortly before the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights began investigating the private institution for potentially mishandling a separate case of sexual violence on campus.
Activist group End Rape On Campus helped recent alumnae file two of the three complaints, claiming the school didn't follow its own policy when disciplining students accused of sexual assault and did not adequately relay all available resources to victims. The other complaint was from current students who say Bard President Leon Botstein made comments that undercut the trust of having a proper response to a sexual assault report at the college.
The Education Department opened an investigation into Bard on Dec. 30, looking into a case in which the college initially prescribed counseling and "social probation" as a punishment for sexual assault. The institution later increased the penalties after the accused student was charged criminally.
EROC helped a woman who graduated last year, and requested anonymity, file a complaint last month over how Bard handled her campus judicial proceeding.
