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PENCIL IT IN TUESDAY, SEPT 16 -Artist’s Talk featuring Andrea Chung, 5:006:00 p.m., Kirkbride Lecture Hall Room 204 -Music Education Open Session with Mitchell Robinson, 7:00 p.m., Center for the Arts, Gore Recital Hall WEDNESDAY, SEPT 17 -First Red, White & Blue Hens interest meeting, 7:00-7:45 p.m., Gore 304 -Active Minds at UD lecture featuring Jackie Ricciardi, 7:00-9:00 p.m., Trabant Theatre -National Agenda Film Series: “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” 7:30 p.m. Mitchell Hall THURSDAY, SEPT 18 -Latino Heritage Month Extravaganza: “A 20/20 View of Hispanic America” featuring John Quinones, 7:30 p.m., Trabant Multipurpose Room -Botanic Gardens Fall Benefit plant sale, 4:00-7:00 p.m., Fischer Greenhouse Lab -United States Air Force Band chamber trio, 8:00 p.m., Center for the Arts, Gore Recital Hall FRIDAY, SEPT 19 -Environmental Engineering Guest Speaker Seminar, 2:003:30 p.m., Composites Manufacturing Science Lab Room 106 -POW/MIA remembrance, 6:00 p.m., UD’s Academy Building lawn SATURDAY, SEPT 20 -UD Day of Service, 11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m., East Campus, West Campus, Laird Campus -Magician Frank Deville, 8:00-10:00 p.m., Perkins West Lounge SUNDAY, SEPT 21 -Newark Community Day, The Green, 11:00 a.m.—4:00 p.m. -Keep Moving Forward 5K benefiting UD Sexual Offense Support, 1:00—2:30 p.m., Laird Campus MONDAY, SEPT 22 -“Actors on Acting” presentation featuring Richard Davison, 10:30 a.m., Newark Senior Center -“Disabled Upon Arrival: Technologies of Disablement and Racialization at the Border” lecture featuring Jay Dolmage, 3:30 p.m., Memorial Hall room 127
TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 16, 2014 VOLUME 141, ISSUE 3
University silent on student’s sexual harassment allegation against professor Cady Zuvich Executive Editor A professor who was accused of sexual harassment by a female student last semester has taken a leave of absence amid a confidential investigation by university officials. The professor, Eric Tranby of the sociology department, was accused of offering the student an A in exchange for sexual favors at the end of last semester. Several university officials declined to comment on the student’s accusations or Tranby’s current status. “The case has been resolved confidentially,” said university spokesperson Andrea Boyle Tippett on Monday. The case began in May when a student who wishes to remain anonymous approached sociology professor Chrysanthi Leon on the final day of class last semester. The student offered a detailed account to Leon of how she experienced repeated unwanted sexual advances from Tranby, a person Leon once considered a friend and colleague. In an interview, Leon said the student confided that
UDEL.EDU/SOC/ Eric Tranby, a sociology professor, was accused of making unwanted sexual advances toward a female student. Tranby made these advances in person and over text message. “She detailed his unwanted sexual innuendo and flirtation, escalating to overt harassment and threats,” Leon stated in the May 20 third-party complaint. Though hesitant to go forth with the process due to the trauma that often accompanies reporting, the student soon made a formal complaint to the university with Leon acting as
her advocate. Following a May 21 meeting to file an official complaint with then-Title IX officer Margaret Anderson, Leon said both she and her student were confident in the university, leading the student to feel “empowered” to testify. However, as time passed, it seemed that the university opted for silence, leaving Leon and her student in the dark
about the proceedings that followed. Since the complaint was filed, university officials have declined to inform the student or make public the finding of its investigation, Leon said. Though prepared to testify against Tranby, the female student was not asked to attend further meetings or hearings. She only found out later about Tranby’s departure through an informal announcement made on his behalf to the sociology department. “At least informing the victim of what’s going on is crucial,” said Leon, who studies sex, crime and punishment as a profession. “That is not at all what happened.” The student’s questions about the university’s handling of her complaint rises to the surface amid a national conversation about sexual harassment and gender-based violence on college campuses. In April, the Obama Administration released a set of guidelines in an effort to exert pressure for policy reform in campus administrations nationwide. See BANGE page 3
New focus on sexual violence after DOE launches investigation MEGHAN JUSCZAK Managing News Editor In the first week of the school year, the university’s Title IX Coordinator Susan Groff received 13 Title IX reports, four of which were alleged rape cases that occurred during move-in weekend. “That was what was reported,” she said. “So I feel pretty confident in saying there were many other incidents out there, but they just haven’t come forward.” Among sexual violence and student health professionals, the first six weeks of freshman year are known as the “red zone” for sexual assault on college campuses. At New Student Orientation, incoming students learn from five PowerPoint slides about this
period, which is often defined by its association to high-risk drinking. Few freshmen likely internalize many of the statistics they hear throughout their orientation and first few weeks, but the fact remains in spite of that. One in five incoming women will be sexually assaulted in college, and most often during her freshman or sophomore year, according to the April federal report entitled “Not Alone.” “Many are survivors of what’s called ‘incapacitated assault’—they are sexually abused while drugged, drunk, passed out or otherwise incapacitated,” the report stated. University police chief Patrick Ogden described the process for crime reporting at the university level.
“UDPD is not a confidential resource for crime reporting, so an incident report would be taken, facts would be gathered and then we would provide information to the Attorney General’s Office, the Office of Student Conduct and the Title IX Coordinator,” Ogden said. Student victims can also choose not to proceed criminally and instead go forth with due process through the Office of Student Conduct. He said students often choose to go through the university process rather than the criminal proceedings because it is less formal and allows for confidential reporting. Becki Fogerty, deputy Title IX coordinator for staff and graduate students, said the university does not
deviate from the norm when it comes to incidents of sexual assault. “We are individuals who participate in society, and UD is a microcosm of society,” Fogerty said. “So I think you can confirm that if it’s a societal issue, it’s a UD issue.” Groff and Fogerty both work in the Office of Equity and Inclusion as part of a staff specifically responsible for Title IX policies and compliance at the university. At its core, Title IX is a code from the 1972 U.S. Education Amendments that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex at any educational institution—private or public—that receives federal funds. See LABERGE page 5
At end of Path to Prominence, “Delaware Will Shine” JAY PANANDIKER Assignment News Editor Since last semester, “Delaware will shine” means more than just the last three words of the university fight song. It is also the name of the school’s new strategic planning initiative. The plan will succeed the now sevenyear-old Path to Prominence. Provost Domenico Grasso said a new strategic plan is necessary because the landscape has changed in the seven years since Path to Prominence was first implemented. Strategic planning allows for the university to look back on what it has accomplished as well as look to what is still left to be achieved, he said. “If you don’t know where you want to go, you’re never going to get there,” Grasso said. Vice Provost for Research Charles Riordan said strategic planning is common in many organizations, and that it is important to reflect on where they have been and where they are headed. “When you have a big organization with 4,000 employees and 21,000 students, it can be helpful to stop, reflect and be reminded of why we’re all here,” Riordan said. In the last seven years, economic conditions have changed and federal funding for universities has not kept
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up with inflation, while technology has become even more prominent, Riordan said. He said three working groups are currently drafting the strategic plan, each with a specific facet of the plan in mind. The working groups comprise of faculty, administrators, staff and students. The first group, “Grand Challenges, Great Debates, Big Ideas” will assess which modern problems the university is best positioned to address, Riordan said. “Sustaining and Accelerating the Advance” will look back on the Path to Prominence to reflect on what was achieved and if there is any unfinished business, Riordan said. They will also focus on how to measure the success of the strategic plan. “Models for the New American Research University” is the largest of the three groups. This group will analyze resource allocation, infrastructure and curriculum delivery, Riordan said. “We wanted to make sure we had representation from as many different constituencies on campus as possible, and that they wanted and had the time to work,” Grasso said. The process of drafting a new strategic plan began last semester when Grasso set up the various committees and working groups. The committee then held several town halls to introduce the
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public to the Delaware Will Shine initiative, Riordan said. This semester, the university will be holding a seminar series with higher education experts to help get the best perspectives when making the plan. A draft strategic plan is expected to be complete by the end of winter session. Riordan said the “Grand Challenges” team will be releasing a list of issues they believe are important in the several weeks. He said members of the strategic planning committee have been to about two dozen meetings around campus at various levels and have approximately 70 to 80
more planned. “What we are encouraging everyone in our community is to think broadly, think creatively and think about how to become the best University of Delaware we can become,” Riordan said. Riordan said Delaware Will Shine is not simply a continuation of Path to Prominence, largely because of changes on campus and in higher education since the previous plan was drafted. He said many of the activities and core values put forth in Path to Prominence would not change. See RIORDAN, page 5
ANDREW KUCZMARSKI/THE REVIEW This year’s incoming class will be the first to watch “Delaware Will Shine” unfold.
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