Feb. 03, 2022 | Indiana Daily Student | idsnews.com
LETTER FROM THE EDITOR On Jan. 27, the Indiana Daily Student released an investigation that chronicled the findings of six months worth of reporting regarding sexual assault findings against IU jazz student Chris Parker. Cate Charron, IDS reporter and managing editor of digital, detailed the ripple effect caused by IU’s and the Jacobs School Music’s actions, or lack thereof, to IU alumna Shailey
Ostland’s Title IX case against Parker. IU found Parker responsible for sexually assaulting Ostland on Halloween in 2015. The IDS requested Chris Parker’s disciplinary record Sept. 14, 2021, through an open records request, which the university denied. The IDS was notified Jan. 31, 2022, that the opinion of the Indiana Public Access Counselor
found that IU violated public access laws by denying the request. As of Feb. 2, IU has yet to respond on whether they will release the requested records. Since publishing “Dissonance in due process,” the Jacobs School of Music has held a town hall for Jacobs students to discuss the IDS investigation. Students expressed they felt angry after the meeting
and said their questions or concerns regarding the specifics of Parker’s case were not addressed. This is not the first time the IDS has published an investigation regarding sexual assault. In 2020, the IDS reported on sexual assault findings against past IU professor Murray McGibbon. In 2019 the IDS reported on the suspension of David Jang, a grad-
uate conducting student, after he was accused of abuses of power and sexual misconduct towards male students. The IDS will continue to be transparent on our reporting processes and how we gather information. We are devoted to telling these stories accurately and fairly and will continue to do so. For now, if you have any additional information, ques-
tions or concerns please email me at editor@idsnews.com. We will continue to publish follow-ups and provide coverage of this important series of events.
Izzy Myszak Editor-in-Chief
IDS
Sexual assault record access denial violates law By Cate Charron catcharr@iu.edu | @catecharron
IU iolated public access laws when it denied the Indiana Daily Student’s open records request for a student’s disciplinary record pertaining to sexual assault, according to the opinion of Luke Britt, the Indiana Public Access Counselor. “FERPA simply operates to protect student populations by preventing schools from sweeping allegations of violence or sex offenses under the rug in order to protect the school’s brand or reputation,” Britt said in the opinion. The records were requested during the six-month reporting process for the now-
published “Dissonance in due process” investigation. The investigation found the university did not follow its word when readmitting IU student Chris Parker after he violated a suspension stemming from a 2015 sexual assault. If he came on campus during his suspension, the suspension terms said he was either to be expelled or charged by police. Neither happened, and he was suspended again. In August 2021, the IDS obtained a document which said Parker was found responsible for a sexual assault after a Title IX and hearing process in 2016. Knowing this, the IDS requested Chris Parker’s disciplinary record in an open records request
Sept. 14, 2021, citing Indiana Code and a Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act exemption. IU is a public university, meaning it is subject to the Access to Public Records Act. After the university denied access to such records, the IDS reported a complaint to the Indiana Public Access Counselor, which was received Nov. 1, 2021. The complaint said IU restricted the records and used disclosure exemptions incorrectly. In a similar case, University of North Carolina student publication, the Daily Tar Heel, and three other North Carolina media companies won a lawsuit to require UNC to release records of students found respon-
sible for rape, sexual assault or related acts of sexual misconduct. Generally, student records, both academic and disciplinary, are protected by a FERPA, which is a federal law limiting access to educational information. However, one FERPA exemption says that an institution can disclose disciplinary records when the student is the alleged perpetrator of a violent crime or a nonforcible sex offence. According to the exemption, released information should include the student’s name, the violation committed and any sanction imposed on the student. It also may include the name of a student who is a victim
or witness with their written consent. The state office notified the IDS of their decision for the complaint Jan. 31, 2022, saying in their official opinion that IU violated APRA when denying the request. In response to the complaint to the Public Access Counselor, IU said they denied the request in accordance with APRA and FERPA. The university said it did not disclose such records because it does not specify its policies in their code of conduct as “crimes of violence” or “nonforcible sex offences.” The university said it is not required to determine if a code violation falls into such categories. Britt said
in the opinion that this is an “absurd result.” “This office does not find IU’s arguments to be persuasive in this matter,” Britt said in the opinion. “It does not have statutory authority to withhold the final results of disciplinary proceedings involving a perpetrator of crimes of violence or sex offenses. Moreover, the university cannot simply use semantics to deny their existence.” The university said in its response that it has “relied on and consistently followed” the Public Access Counselor’s guidance. As of Jan. 31, IU has not responded as to whether it will now release the requested records.
Jazz students express frustration after town hall
CATE CHARRON | IDS
The Musical Arts Center is seen Feb. 1, 2022. Jacobs School of Music faculty and other university staff held a town hall Monday night to discuss the recent Indiana Daily Student investigation concerning current jazz student Chris Parker’s sexual assault allegations. By Cate Charron IU determines disciplinary sexual misconduct policy as the same talking points jazz student Chris Parker’s was suspended again. catcharr@iu.edu | @catecharron
Editor’s Note: This story includes mention of sexual violence. Jacobs School of Music students said they continued to feel unheard after faculty and other university staff held a town hall Monday night to discuss the recent Indiana Daily Student investigation concerning current
sexual assault allegations. The IDS published “Dissonance in due process,” which found the university did not follow its word when readmitting Parker after he violated a suspension stemming from a 2015 sexual assault. If he violated the campus no trespass order, the suspension terms said he was either to be expelled or charged by police. However, neither happened, and he
Representatives from the Dean of Students Office and Office of Institutional Equity as well as Jacobs faculty arranged and attended the meeting to hear students out about their concerns. During the 90-minute meeting in the Musical Arts Center, about 80 students attended, many of which asked questions and gave statements about topics, including the Title IX process, how
consequences and university actions noted in the investigation. Jazz graduate student Brendan Keller-Tuberg said the administrative faculty members crippled conversation with students because they barred questions and comments talking about specifics. “I am happy to talk about policy and procedure and talk through and particular
and process,” Kathy Adams Riester, associate vice provost for student affairs, said in materials obtained by the IDS from the town hall. “But because of FERPA, we can't talk about specific cases.” When administration were asked questions, KellerTuberg said their responses were roundabout and indirect. He said their answers wasted time. Multiple students described the meeting
repeated over and over. Afterward, he said students who attended felt angry about how the meeting went, but he and others expected the meeting to go poorly. With students organizing to talk about these issues independent of Jacobs or IU, Keller-Tuberg and other stuSEE TOWN HALL, PAGE 4
Bloomington expects 8 to 12 inches of snow Shatter the Silence no longer a student group after pushback
By Cameron Garber
garberc@iu.edu | @garber_cameron
Bloomington is expected to receive eight to twelve inches of snow Thursday, according to a report from the Weather Channel. Temperatures peaked Tuesday with a high of 56 degrees before falling to 25 degrees on Friday. To prepare for a winter storm, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends waterproofing your home, listening to weather forecasts, stocking up on emergency food and water and creating an emergency car kit if traveling can’t be avoided. An emergency car kit should include extra chargers and batteries, cold-weather clothing such as coats and gloves, a shovel and other necessities.
By Cate Charron catcharr@iu.edu | @catecharron
IDS FILE PHOTO BY TY VINSON
Footprints are seen on the snow-covered paths Jan. 30, 2019, through IU’s empty campus. Bloomington is expected to receive 8 to 12 inches of snow Thursday.
After receiving “significant pushback," Shatter the Silence — a local social justice organization advocating for survivors of sexual assault — will no longer be a student group, according to an Instagram post. Instead, it will revert back to a community organization. “Advocacy groups should never be censored for doing the right thing and standing up to injustice,” it said in an Instagram statement. The group took down
a letter they posted in response to the Indiana Daily Student investigation “Dissonance in due process.” The investigation reports how Chris Parker, a student in the Jacobs School of Music, readmitted to the university in 2020 after serving two suspensions stemming from a sexual assault in 2015. Shatter the Silence addressed the letter to Jacobs, IU and the IU Police Department. They said posting the open letter was “the right thing to do” and will be reposted in the near future.