Investigation finds 'distrust of senior leadership' in CSU system's handling of Title IX claims

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- The law firm tasked with investigating the CSU system's Title IX implementation released a new report on Wednesday.

In a nearly hour-long presentation, representatives from Cozen O'Conner, the law firm hired to complete the assessment of all 23 CSU campuses and the chancellor's office, detailed their findings.

There were five core issues -- the first found the CSU system just doesn't have enough resources in place to not only investigate Title IX claims but prevent them from happening in the first place.

"Individuals that are overloaded with too much responsibility are focusing on the fires and, as a consequence, all the other things are just dissolving and leading to a lack of trust in the system," Cozen O'Connor's Institutional Response Group Chair Gina Maisto Smith said.

The second finding was significant gaps in the prevention and awareness programs.

Saying across every campus, the work was being done when necessary, rather than coordinated and intentionally.

The third finding found concerns over the response to people reporting a one-time occurrence possibly based on gender or race that didn't reach the level of a violation.

"And they walked away, felt underserved, had no response, and didn't know where to go or what to do," Smith said.

Researchers found there was distrust of senior leadership, in part, stemming from the widely publicized criticism of the then-president of Fresno State, Joseph Castro's handling of harassment allegations.

There were also issues with the compliance processes across multiple universities.

"We like to say in 100% of the cases that your system or university investigates, at least 50% will walk away feeling unheard, dissatisfied, or unserved by the process and - when they do - they no longer point the finger at one another, but back at the process," Cozen O'Connor's Institutional Response Group Vice Chair Leslie Gomez.

The law firm says all of those issues intertwined and created accountability issues such as underreporting, a relatively small percentage of cases that are formally investigated, and protracted disciplinary processes.

Recommendations were given on each finding but overall showed the need for more staff, funding, and training on Title IX and discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.

It also suggested a standalone center with trained, experienced investigators and hearing officers that would be supervised by the chancellor's office, and available to all campuses.

The chair of the CSU Board of Trustees Wenda Fong said they are committed to moving forward in the right direction.

"I know that I speak for my fellow board members that we are completely unified to support the institution of change," Fong said.

The report Wednesday was a broad overlay of the findings.

A formal, written report will be released next month.

That will include findings for each individual campus, including Fresno State.

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