U. of Montana Deadline Passes: Where Are the New Policies?

Those who oppose the Departments of Education and Justice’s May 9 “blueprint” for campus sexual harassment policies may recall that the University of Montana (UMT) was instructed in its resolution agreement with the Departments to adopt revised sexual misconduct policies by July 15 (PDF).As far as we at FIRE can tell, there are no signs that UMT has met this deadline for policy implementation. Perhaps most critically for purposes of preserving students’ rights, the sexual harassment policy on UMT’s website is the old one, which means that even if UMT administrators have written a new policy and intend to enforce it, students have no notice of the standards by which they will be judged. Further, despite indications nearly a month ago that UMT had already drafted a new policy, FIRE has been unable to obtain a copy of such a draft, deepening our suspicion about whether it could achieve the impossible: compliance with both the Departments’ letter and with the First Amendment, as UMT General Counsel Lucy France has promised. As always, check back to The Torch for updates; in the meantime, rest assured that the passage of this deadline has not escaped our notice.Want to know more about the ED/DOJ "blueprint"?  Check out FIRE's Frequently Asked Questions here!