VOICES OF UKRAINE
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DEBATE
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Stories in times of unrest
Vol. 123 NO. 6
Student media editors travel to DC for MediaFest22
Schrier and Larkin battle it out for House seat November 02, 2022
“Cats Against Assault” claims lack of accountability in Title IX cases on campus tims and temporary suspension from work for Title IX perpetrators until their cases are resolved. Cats Against Assault is organizing a protest for Thursday, Nov. 3 from 2 4 p.m. starting at the Wildcat statue in front of the SURC, where they said community members can join in advocating against Title IX violations and their handling by CWU.
Katherine Camarata Lead Editor A new Instagram account titled Cats Against Assault has made waves and garnered over 1,400 followers since their first post on Oct. 20, which introduced the group as “students advocating for CWU to enforce Title IX Laws and hold predators accountable.” The Cats Against Assault page posts details about certain Title IX cases at CWU that the creators claim were mishandled or did not reach fair resolution, and some posts have mentioned the Ryan
Aspiri Dining Services misconduct case previously covered by The Observer (See “Dining services supervisor investigated for ‘inappropriate boundaries’”). The page shared a list of demands the creators of the account have emailed to President James Wohlpart and Joel Klucking, who they claim have not fulfilled these demands for better conditions in the handling of Title IX cases – despite having promised to do so in June 2022, according to a petition shared on their Linktree and their posts. At present, 211 people have signed the petition and over 30 peo-
ple have submitted their own Title IX stories to the Cats Against Assault team. The Observer conducted exclusive interviews with two of the creators of the account. Their demands include: “A free and accessible general counsel/ attorney” for Title IX victims, the “rights, options and risks” of victims in Title IX cases provided in writing at initial meetings with coordinators, a strictly-followed timeline that meets federal requirements of being handled within 90 days, more training for Title IX employees, for the burden of no contact orders to fall on perpetrators instead of vic-
Implications of Title IX Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 was created by former President Nixon and states that, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.” According to the Department of Justice website, Title IX was created with two main objectives: to restrict the use of federal resources in discriminatory practice within education, and to offer protection to citizens against these practices. The CWU website states: “Central Washington University is committed to providing a learning, working and living environment that promotes personal integrity, civility, and mutual respect in an environment free of sexual misconduct and discrimination. Sexual discrimination violates an individual’s fundamental rights and personal dignity. CWU considers sexual discrimination in all its forms to be a serious offense.”
CWU Interim Vice President of Financial Affairs Andrew Morse gave a statement to The Observer on behalf of Public Relations: “Central Washington University is committed to the safety and success of our students. We also take complaints of gender-based violence— or any other forms of harassment, violence, and discrimination—seriously, and are following established university policy to investigate allegations in accordance with federal law and regulation. “We are always working with our shared governance groups, including student leaders, to improve our policy and practice on a continuous basis. This includes the formation of a task force to evaluate best practices on gender-based violence prevention that will further elevate equity-mindedness in our structures and systems on campus.” Exclusive interviews with creators of Cats Against Assault To protect the identities of our sources, we will refer to them as Source # 1 and Source # 2. Source # 1 said she is a female student at CWU and Source # 2 said she is a female senior attending CWU. The sources chose to remain anonymous because they said they feared retaliation from CWU administration for speaking out about this topic.
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CWU enrollment on a decline they’ll think about us.” During the meeting, Klucking also said that there were some positive things with firstyear enrollment. According to the presentation, the total enrollment numbers
for transfer students went up from 876 in fall 2021 to 906 in fall 2022. The population of first-generation students in the incoming freshman class for fall 2022 increased from 45% to 48%.
Total Enrollment Fall ‘19 - Fall ‘22
14,000 11,907
11,289
10,325
10,000 8,000 6,000
9,395
Fall ‘22
12,000
Fall ‘21
2021 was 1,460 and the enrollment for fall 2022 was 1,549. “If you asked me, the week before classes started, what our freshman enrollment would be based on housing contracts, orientation and those students who had classes I would have said 1,675,” Klucking said at the BoT meeting. “We ended up with 1,549 first-year students, still within our range but near the lower end.” CWU hopes to increase its enrollment numbers and has plans to do so. Michelle DenBeste, provost at CWU, said CWU will go to student fairs and enrollment fairs as well as talk to students who may come to the campus for music or athletic camps. DenBeste said they also want to start talking to students when they are in middle school or freshmen and sophomores in high school. “We want to make sure they know something about us [CWU],” DenBeste said. “When they’re thinking about college,
Fall ‘20
Enrollment numbers at CWU have been down for over a decade, according to Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Finance and Administration, Joel Klucking. The Board of Trustees (BoT) met on Oct. 20 to discuss what enrollment numbers look like at CWU. According to the presentation, the total enrollment numbers are down. “The comparisons to fall of ‘22 to fall of ‘21 look pretty bad at the top of the funnel, applications were down 34%, admits sort of follow that trend,” said Klucking. According to Klucking, the total enrollment number for fall 2019 was 11,907 students, fall 2020 was 11,289 students, fall 2021 was 10,325 students and fall 2022 was 9,395 students. The lower enrollment rates have also affected CWU’s budget. “We reduced our tuition revenue budget a little bit to reflect
the lower enrollment and also demonstrated ways that we’re going to try to not spend money, typically through salary savings,” Klucking said. With the lower enrollment, there are less student fees coming in. Groups that are student-fee funded are having to make adjustments and reduce things like the service and activities fee. “The service and activities fee they have a four-year budget cycle so we’re currently in year two of that four-year budget cycle,” Klucking said. “They’ve had to distribute a 10% cut, not just across the board but … more strategically to different areas.” Klucking said they are also trying to defer hiring within the SURC and only purchase items essential to operation, due to fewer student fees coming in. According to the presentation, enrollment numbers for firstyear students did go up by 6% from fall 2021. The enrollment for first-year students in fall
Fall ‘19
Megan Rogers Senior Reporter
4,000 2,000 0
First Year
Transfer
Continuing
Graduate
Graphic based on information provided by CWU Board of Trustees. Designed by Glacie Kehoe-Padilla.