Joy Gaslevic became assistant vice provost and Title IX coordinator within the Office of Institutional Equity (OIE) effective June 1. As Title IX coordinator, she organizes University efforts to prevent and address sex discrimination across all of Hopkins’ domestic and overseas campuses.
Gaslevic moved from private practice to the Office of the Maryland Attorney General (OAG) in 2004 where she served as an Assistant Attorney General in the Educational Affairs Division. There, she handled matters concerning Title IX.
She was drawn to the position at Hopkins because of her combined interests in legal affairs and helping students.
“I’ve been the lawyer for lots of higher ed institutions and the lawyer for an office of institutional equity, and I watched for years the wonderful work that [OIE] did,” Gaslevic said. “I’ve always loved my work with student affairs’ offices…and I’ve always wanted to be in a position where I could be on the ground helping.”
Title IX is a federal law that prohibits discrimination based on an individual’s sex in schools and universities that receive federal funding.
Gaslevic stated that both Title IX and Hopkins’ sexual misconduct policy direct how the University tackles sexual misconduct, a form of sex discrimination, which includes sexual harassment, sexual assault, relationship violence and stalking.
Gaslevic hopes to prevent and address sexual misconduct in her capacity as Title IX coordinator.
“My lofty goal would be that through the implementation of effective prevention strategies and awareness campaigns, sex discrimination — including sexual misconduct — would become a non-occurrence at JHU,” Gaslevic wrote in an email to The News-Letter.
Gaslevic explained another piece of legislation, the Clery Act, which serves to keep students informed and safe by requiring the University to disclose crime statistics and security information.
“The Clery Act works in concert with Title IX when it comes to the ways they both protect against sexual violence,” Gaslevic wrote in an email to The News-Letter. “For example, both require that JHU put in place and keep in place policies designed to prohibit sexual violence and both require JHU to handle sexual violence matters consistently and equitably.”
After receiving a Title IX complaint, whether it be through a responsible employee report, campus safety and security report or direct report, OIE conducts an initial assessment.
“The initial assessment in every case differs depending on the facts, but we always look at safety and security,” Gaslevic said. “If it’s a Clery crime, we look at whether we need to issue a Clery timely warning. There are lots of different interim measures [that we look into] whether it is a workplace issue or a classroom issue, we work to implement those. We also look for requests for confidentiality, requests for anonymity and requests for action or no action.”
In 2014, the University was under federal investigation for a Title IX violation after several Hopkins students filed a complaint with the Department of Education. The complaint was filed following allegations of a gang rape occurring at the Pi Kappa Alpha (PIKE) fraternity house in 2013.
The students contended that the University had failed to report the incident to the community in a timely manner, as mandated by the Clery Act. Gaslevic declined to comment on whether the federal investigation was closed or ongoing, although she said the status of the investigation may be publicly available. She declined to comment on the ongoing Stuart Walters sexual assault case.
“We can’t comment on any case that may or may not be pending with the University,” Gaslevic said. “I can tell you that generally, the University has a very comprehensive policy in place for complaints of sexual misconduct and we have a process in place, and that’s what we follow. Other than that we take student privacy very seriously, and we can’t comment on a case that may or may not be ongoing.”
Earlier this year, the University released a report of the findings of their Sexual Violence Climate Survey titled “It’s On Us Hopkins.” Nearly 4,000 students completed the survey. About 15 percent of those students indicated that they have experienced some form of unwanted sexual behavior at Hopkins. The report revealed that many students were unlikely to report unwanted sexual behavior and were not aware of the resources available to them.
”We also found a striking lack of awareness of the Office of Institutional Equity and other important sources of support,” the report stated.
Hopkins has recently established the Sexual Violence Advisory Committee and is working to increase awareness and support programs, such as bystander intervention training (BIT). Gaslevic praised the efficacy of these efforts and listed several new initiatives.
Her office is looking into creating a comprehensive communications campaign to let students know what resources are available to them. So far these include wallet cards with information and advice, flash drives with the office’s contact information printed on the exterior and several flyers that inform students about what to do in when friends have experienced sexual assault or wish to file a report.
These items were distributed to all incoming students during Orientation.
“By continuing to get the word out about JHU’s policies and procedures surrounding sexual misconduct, we are also well on our way to having a community that is very tuned into the issues surrounding sexual misconduct,” Gaslevic wrote. “That’s key to prevention.”
Gaslevic remains optimistic that the University can decrease the occurrence of sexual misconduct in the future.
“We’re at a period in history where we really have an increased awareness of this topic, and while that may be scary, it’s actually a positive thing, and I think it’s really going to move us forward,” Gaslevic said. “We have a lot of knowledge and attention on the subject matter right now and that may be both exciting, good and scary, all at the same time.”
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