Ariella Mostov, a senior at University of California Berkley, wonders why neither the Los Angeles Police Department nor the school Department of Safety failed to contact her after she reported being sexually assaulted. The Huffington Post reported after over a month of no contact from officials, Reed discovered her report had been labeled as injury response rather than sexual assault or rape.  Later, the campus police told her the crime was not rape because the perpetuator did not orgasm.  Reed’s case is not an isolated one.
University of North Carolina, University of California Berkley, Dartmouth College and Swarthmore College have recently undergone investigation by the United States Department of Education for mishandling sexual assault cases and violations of the Clergy Act and Title IX. 
 The Clergy Act is a federal law that requires all colleges and universities that participate in federal financial aid programs to keep and disclose crime information on or near their campuses. Title IX is a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination under any education program or activity.   
In April 2011, Mississippi State University expanded Title IX to include sexual violence. Judy Spencer, Title IX coordinator and director of human resources at MSU, said Title IX originally protected against sex discrimination among school athletic teams and facilities, and sexual violence was later added and classified as sexual discrimination.
“In 2011, the Department of Education came forward in a letter and expanded Title IX to also include sexual violence,” Spencer said. 
 
“Originally, it was mostly about equity in athletics. The vice president of the U.S. was also instrumental in that expansion because he said he firmly believes that sexual assault on college campuses go unreported, so he wanted that emphasis in education,” Spencer said.
She said MSU aggressively handles every report of sexual assault and immediately responds to and investigates any claims of sexual misconduct. Additionally, Spencer said she acknowledges that other college campuses come under fire for mishandling and under-reporting sexual assault cases.
“We make sure that doesn’t happen. We log all reports and post them on the school website,” Spencer said. 
Spencer said the Department of Human Resources Management, mainly handles the faculty and staff incidences. Reports of student-on-student incidences are handled by the Dean of Students and Student Affairs. 
Senior human resources generalist Stephen Green acts as the deputy coordinator and investigator and conducts investigations with Spencer and also oversees quality of investigations.
Green said in any investigation of reports, the accused party has the right to respond and due process of the law.
“If an allegation comes forward, we’re not going to just take that complainant’s allegation and say ‘ok, this person needs to be out of here’ without doing any type of investigation,” Green said. “It will involve communication with the respondent so that they can be aware of what the allegations are and respond to that. There may be evidence as well that supports the complainant’s allegation, and it’s presented to the respondent so that they can say yes or no without getting details of how the investigation goes. They’re just given due process basically.”
Spencer said other individuals are interviewed if appropriate. Spencer said if a student comes forward with a report, he or she has several options such as no-contact notices and support services. 
“The Dean of Students is going to tell the student what their rights are, and based on the situations, it’s really up to the student to decide at that point what they feel like they need,” she said. “At times you could let them know it’s their right to file a police report, for example. Some will choose to, some will not. It depends on the investigation.”
Green said there could be numerous remediation efforts, and after investigation it may be clear that something needs to be done, whether it’s no-contact or changing the situation so that the complainant and the accused person do not see each other.
“Every situation is different, so you have to approach them and make the right decision for each one instead of having a cookie-cutter response,” Green said.
Spencer said if a student is attacked, he or she should immediately file a police report as well as get help for him or herself through Student Counseling Services or other resources available. 
Leah Pylate, director of Sexual Assault Services, said victims can report sexual assault to the Longest Student Health Center and Student Counseling Services confidentially.
Pylate said if a student wants to file a police report and press charges with the police department, there is some level of confidentiality, but not the same amount of confidentiality as the health center or counseling services.
 She said there are mandatory reporters on campus, and if information about an assault is shared with them they are obligated to report it.
“If a female student shared with her professor, then the professor would be mandated to report it,” Pylate said. “If a student came forward and presented to their resident adviser, then the RA would be have to notify someone like their superviser because they are a mandated reporter.”
Patricia Fontaine, a resident adviser at Rice Hall, said if a victim approaches her, the first thing she does is make sure the victim feels comfortable.
“The main thing is not to leave them alone. I would ask if they want me to call someone like a friend to sit with them. Then I would call the resident director on duty, and I would have to call the police,” Fontaine said.
Fontaine said although she is required to report the crime to the police, the victim does not have to talk to the police or the resident director.
Pylate said students who have been assaulted can call the MSU safe line or the campus police. The dispatchers on the safe line can connect students with a counselor if they wish. Pylate said if a student goes to the health center, he or she will be given the opportunity to undergo a medical examination and complete a physical evidence recovery kit by one of the trained nurses. Pylate also said students will be given the opportunity to speak with a sexual assault advocate, who is a trained counselor that assists victims through the process of reporting the crime. 
“The sexual assault advocate is there to help them work through the process and give them their options as if whether or not they want to go through with doing a victim kit or file a police report,” Pylate said. 
For more information about sexual assault services, students and staff can visit Sexual Assault Service website at students.msstate.edu/sexualmisconduct/.