San Jose State Students Against Sexual Assault (SASA) organized a press conference in front of the Spartan Complex East on Wednesday, asking SJSU for more staff members in the Title IX office and improvements to fight against sexual violence on campus.
SASA is a student organization advocating for the university to become a safe and supportive space by ensuring Title IX protection, according to its Instagram page.
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities that receive federal finance assistance, according to the U.S. Department of Education website.
“The reason that we are holding this event today is because we want to bring attention to a huge issue on the SJSU campus, and that's around the [SJSU] Title IX reform that's been happening since 2021,” said SASA co-founder and graduate social work student Karlie Eacock.
SASA members asked the SJSU Title IX office to hire at least four additional staff members to increase transparency by releasing a regular quarterly report to the campus community and improve its overall community outreach.
“I'm proud of them for bringing this forward,” SJSU Interim President Steve Perez said in an interview after the news conference. “That's how our community is gonna be best off and that's how we'll best be able to interact with each other and meet our mission.”
Perez said he’s looking forward to speaking with SASA members at their scheduled meeting on Monday.
Concerns about SJSU Title IX were raised after Scott Shaw, former SJSU athletic trainer and director of sports medicine, had been charged with violating civil rights of at least four female student athletes from 2017-20 for engaging in sexual misconduct, according to a March 10 U.S. attorney’s office news release.
Eacock said SASA decided to gather in front of the Spartan Complex East in reference to Shaw’s victims.
“We think that what happened with Scott Shaw, damaged the relationship that students have with the campus,” Eacock said. “We feel that over the past eight months, SJSU has failed to engage with the campus community and make amends.”
The U.S. Department of Justice found in September 2021 that SJSU failed to adequately answer to sexual misconduct reports for more than a decade, according to a Sept 22, 2021 DOJ news release. The DOJ and SJSU made a resolution agreement requiring the university to reform its Title IX office, according to the same news release.
Among the requirements, SJSU was asked to increase the number of Title IX staff workers, which should be made of at least 5 members, according to the SJSU-DOJ agreement.
Eacock said only two people have been hired to work for the SJSU Title IX office after all the previous staff members were removed from office in October 2021.
“We have 36,000 students who are hoping to have a campus that responds to sex and gender violence, as it is our right as students,” she said.
SJSU Interim President Perez said there are currently three full time workers in the Title IX office, and the university is trying to hire three additional ones.
“While we have had open positions, and we have made offers for those positions, we haven't been able to successfully hire somebody,” Perez said. “We're working as hard as we can to make that happen and looking forward to when it does.”
Sage Hopkins, swimming and diving head coach, said there is a statewide Title IX system in distress in need of structural reform.
“We are now at a point where we can begin reimagining what our Title IX system should look like, a system that ensures a safe and inclusive environment for every single member of our campus community,” Hopkins said.
Jocelynn Esteban, SJSU social work student and SASA member, said Hopkins is a “hero” who brought light to Shaw’s alleged sexual misconduct and helped get justice for the vicitms.
After former SJSU President Mary Papazian learned of a 300-page dossier compiled by Hopkins including notes and emails regarding claims against Shaw that was circulated throughout the Mountain West Conference and NCAA, she reopened the matter in December 2019, according to past Spartan Daily reporting.
Hopkins read a statement sent by an SJSU swimming alumna sexually abused by Shaw in 2010, who remained anonymous for safety concerns.
“This past year we gained some redemption,” said in the anonymous student’s testimony read by Hopkins. “But recognition isn't enough, for 12 years I lived knowing that my truth was ignored by a university that told me to be honest.”
SASA members are also asking the university to remove five administrative members “who have been complicit” in Shaw’s case.
Eacock said SASA will name the five members allegedly involved in the mishandling of Shaw’s case at the SASA meeting with the SJSU Interim President Steve Perez.
Perez said SJSU is waiting for the results of an ongoing California State University commissioned investigation before responding to SASA’s demand for the administrative members’ removal.
Social work master student and SASA member Alexandra Ferry said that multiple California State University campuses have been impacted by the failure of their administration to enforce and comply with Title IX.
Former CSU Chancellor Joseph Castro resigned after a USA Today six-month investigation revealed years of sexual harrassment being mishandled at California State University Fresno, according to a Feb. 17 USA Today article.
“In recent news, multiple CSU campuses have been impacted by the failure of their administration to enforce and comply with Title IX,” Ferry said. “Our message to the CSU is that you must do better for your students.”
