Discussion List for campus-based and allied personnel working to end gender-based violence on campus.

[Nancy Cantalupo <>]

Dear WRAC-L & SAPC Colleagues,

 

I am writing at this strange and difficult time with some (good) news and two suggestions for potential distractions from worrying about the coronavirus pandemic.  Before I share any of these, however, let me wish you all safety, good health, and successful social distancing as we make our way through these uncharted waters.

 

The good news is that I am lateraling to California Western School of Law in the fall.  I will join the faculty as an Associate Professor of Law, teaching my Sexual Violence & the Law course as well as Criminal Law and Constitutional Criminal Procedure.  I am looking forward to continuing with my research and scholarship in southern California!

 

The two suggested coronavirus distractions are related to the aforementioned research.  First, an effort has been launched to dissuade Secretary Betsy DeVos and the U.S. Department of Education from finalizing and issuing the at-present-only-proposed Title IX regulations dealing with sexual harassment in education (see this joint letter by over 200 organizations for more details: https://nwlc.org/resources/nwlc-200-organizations-schools-call-on-white-house-department-education-suspend-title-ix-rulemaking-during-covid-19-crisis/).  Although individuals could not sign the letter, the coalition that wrote it has suggested that individuals who agree with the letter request a meeting with OIRA (the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs), which is currently considering the proposed rules.  If you schedule an appointment with OIRA, I am happy to  provide you with talking points written by the National Women’s Law Center.  Please see below for directions on how to request a meeting, which will be done telephonically and usually takes no more than 30 minutes.

 

Finally, should you or others (including your students) be looking to engage in valuable pro bono and/or service-learning work while staying at home and social distancing, please consider volunteering to catalog comments for the Big Comment Catalog and/or encouraging others to do so, including (and especially) your students.  Current volunteers have confirmed that cataloging has been a welcome distraction from COVID-19 related frustrations and anxieties, including one who recently wrote to the research team with this comment: “a friend …. said when she needs to feel like she's accomplished something concrete, cataloging a batch of comments is a lot more satisfying than knitting... Me too.”  Another volunteer, a faculty member who has transitioned to online teaching (as we all have) has used the Catalog to provide her undergraduate students with a service-learning project when other such opportunities have been foreclosed by social distancing.  To read more about this effort and to sign up to catalog comments, please go to the Big Comment Catalog website (https://sites.google.com/view/title-ix-comment-count/home).   

 

Please stay safe and healthy,

Nancy

 

Nancy Chi Cantalupo 甘念齊

J.D., Georgetown Law

pronouns: she/her/hers

See my latest article, And Even More of Us Are Brave: Intersectionality & Sexual Harassment of Women Students of Color, at my SSRN author site: http://ssrn.com/author=884485

 

 

Directions for requesting an OIRA meeting:

·        Request a meeting here and use RIN 1870-AA14.

·        Timing: In the Comments section of your request, you could mention that you are available to meet telephonically) on/after April 16.

·        Second meetings only: if you have already met with OIRA about the Title IX rulemaking, you may want to explain why you are requesting a second meeting by adding briefly in the Comments section of your request that you would like to discuss the following (feel free to rephrase in your own words):

o   DeVos’s recent comments about the proposed rule on mandatory dismissal of out-of-school incidents

o   The Department’s recent investigation of George Tyndall’s sexual abuse at the University of Southern California

o   The impact of another Title IX rule (RIN 1840-AD45; proposed 1/17/20) on this Title IX sexual harassment rule (RIN 1870-AA14; proposed 11/18/19)

·        Follow the instructions, and be sure to check your Spam folder for details on where/when to meet.