Castro crossed Fresno’s Title IX champion
Years before California State Universities Chancellor Joseph I. Castro resigned following allegations of mishandling sexual misconduct complaints while president of Fresno State, there was another Title IX situation in which he seemingly chose to protect the institution without considering the complainant.
Diane Milutinovich, who is the longest, strongest champion of Title IX at Fresno State and a major character in my book 37 Words, had filed several Title IX complaints against the school over the years. The federal Office for Civil Rights (OCR) was monitoring Fresno State to make sure it finished the steps it promised to stop discriminating against women in athletics. By that time the school had completed them.
Castro went to U.S. Congressman Jim Costa in late 2015 or early 2016 asking for his help in getting OCR to close out the Title IX complaints so that the school could move on. Costa did help, and OCR cooperated. But no one bothered to talk to Milutinovich about this. She heard about it while she was out of town. And in a news interview, she questioned whether Fresno State really was meeting its Title IX obligations in athletics.
Feeling betrayed, Milutinovich called Rep. Costa to express her displeasure. Costa arranged a meeting between her, him, Castro, and Fresno State’s athletics director to try and patch things up. But all of that — the betrayal, resentment, and distrust — might have been avoided simply by thinking not just of the institution but of the humans behind the complaints. That same theme infuses the current controversy over Castro’s handling of sexual assault complaints.
Elsewhere
Riverside (Calif.) City College women’s basketball players charged that the school discriminates against them compared with the men’s team. Officials at Mayo High School in Darlington County, S.C. required girls — but not boys — to submit photos of their planned prom attire for approval. A so-called “don’t say gay” bill proposed by Florida legislators could violate Title IX. The ACLU sued Valparaiso (Ind.) High School for a transgender student’s right to use the bathroom that matches his gender identity. A fraternity that was suspended by the University of Nebraska after allegedly hazing participants in a Women’s March sued the university, claiming it violated their freedom of speech.
A complaint to OCR charged the Carroll Independent School District in Southlake, Tex. with allowing a hostile environment that harms students because of their race, sex, or gender identity. A juvenile court trial is scheduled to start in March against five Woburn (Mass.) High School boys accused of sexually assaulting another boy in the locker room after a football game. A Title IX investigation is underway too. Metro Nashville Public Schools will pay thousands to another (yes another) student who was raped on campus; a third student video recorded the rape and circulated it.
If you’ve been following the lawsuit by 58 students who claimed they were sexually abused over six decades while at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts, you might be interested in this timeline. The dean of the Harrison School of Pharmacy in Auburn, Ala. sexually harassed a student, an investigation found. The dean resigned but remained a professor. A Columbia University doctor and professor of pediatrics who was found guilty of sexually abusing a patient for years was sentenced to a year of counseling and conditional discharge.
On the up side
You could win 1 of 20 copies of 37 Words being given away on GoodReads.com! Enter here.
Booklist, a publication of the American Library Association, called 37 Words “A valuable, well-researched, and nuanced history on an important subject” in its positive February 15 review of my book.
The New York Times did a comprehensive and interesting summary of the history of defining sex in athletics.
Dozens of mechanical engineering students at Kansas University sent an anonymous letter to school officials demanding that the school “correct its wrongdoings” from alleged Title IX violations. The letter followed a woman student’s claim that a professor in the department retaliated against her for reporting a sexually abusive lab assistant.
The latest K-12 students to walk out in an effort to raise awareness about sexual assault included students at Medomak Valley High School and Middle School in Waldoboro, Me.
Where you’ll find me
March 2022 — The New York Historical Society’s Center for Women’s History & Academic Affairs will stream a prerecorded discussion with me and some of the earliest Title IX activists. I’ll be speaking with National Women’s Law Center founder Marcia Greenberger and Holly Knox, founder of the Project on Equal Education Rights, plus surprise guests. Part of the Max Conference on Women’s History, the discussion streams online during Women’s History Month.
March 24, 6:30 p.m. PT — A virtual get-together with the Riverside, Calif. chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW).
On April 2, 1:30-3:00 p.m ET — I’ll be in Boston speaking on a panel at the Organization of American Historians annual conference.
April 12 — Book launch day! From 12 noon to 1 p.m. PT at San Francisco State University, the school’s chapter of NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ Journalists hosts a live gathering of students and a give-away of books by three authors (including moi) who will join via Zoom. I’ll be there virtually with Vanessa Hua and Lucy Jane Bledsoe. Later, join me at 7 p.m. ET for a hybrid 37 Words book launch event live at Norwich Bookstore in Vermont and virtually. Details to come!
April 13, 2:00-3:00 p.m. ET — You’re invited to a lively Zoom discussion between me and Kenyora Parham, executive director of End Rape on Campus, as we talk about 37 Words during Sexual Assault Awareness Month. I’ll post links when available.
April 21, 7 p.m. ET — A virtual get-together with the Washington, D.C. chapter of NOW.
Here’s where you’ll find links to preorder 37 Words: Title IX and Fifty Years of Fighting Sex Discrimination. Preorders are so helpful! Thanks for your support.
