Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois is one of 55 colleges and universities under investigation over handling of sexual violence complaints.
Federal investigators are checking to see whether the schools on the list illegally handled sexual violence and harassment complaints, according to the U.S. Department of Education. The investigations are conducted by the department’s Office for Civil Rights.
The investigations center on Title IX, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in all education programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance.
“In the past, Department officials confirmed individual Title IX investigations at institutions, but today's list is the first comprehensive look at which campuses are under review” for possible violations concerning sexual violence, the Dept. of Education statement said.
“Schools that violate the law and refuse to address the problems identified by OCR can lose federal funding or be referred to the U.S. Department of Justice for further action,” the department statement said.
As of May 1, 2014, 55 the OCR had open investigations underway regarding 55 colleges and universities. Knox College in Galesburg, and the University of Chicago, were among the institutions under investigation.
The Knox College investigation relates to a report of sexual misconduct that occurred during fall term 2013 according to The Knox Student campus newspaper.
"In anticipation of the investigation, Knox is launching a campus climate survey to understand how Knox students understand and respond to sexual violence," the paper reported.
OCR investigators were expected to visit the campus in mid-May.
These institutions were on the May 1 list:
Arizona State University
Butte-Glen Community College
Occidental College
University of California-Berkeley
University of Southern California
Regis University
University of Colorado at Boulder
University of Colorado at Denver
University of Denver
University of Connecticut
Catholic University of America
Florida State University
Emory University
University of Hawaii at Manoa
University of Idaho
Knox College
University of Chicago
Indiana University-Bloomington
Vincennes University
Amherst College
Boston University
Emerson College
Harvard College
Harvard University—Law School
University of Massachusetts-Amherst
Frostburg State University
Michigan State University
University of Michigan-Ann Arbor
Guilford College
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Minot State University
Dartmouth College
Princeton University
Cuny Hunter College
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Sarah Lawrence College
Suny at Binghamton
Denison University
Ohio State University
Wittenberg University
Oklahoma State University
Carnegie Mellon University
Franklin and Marshall College
Pennsylvania State University
Swarthmore College
Temple University
Vanderbilt University
Southern Methodist University
The University of Texas-Pan American
College of William and Mary
University of Virginia
Washington State University
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater
Bethany College
West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine