PRESS RELEASE
Rebecca Stewart: 513-479-3335
Email: info@saveservices.org
16 New York Colleges Now Listed in the Kangaroo-Court ‘Hall of Shame.’ Syracuse U. is Worst Offender.
WASHINGTON / December 8, 2021 – Judges have issued 31 rulings in recent years against 16 New York state colleges and universities. These decisions reveal widespread due process deficiencies for sexual harassment cases, which are typically handled by campus Title IX offices.
By far the worst offender is Syracuse University, with a total of six adverse judicial decisions to date. The school’s motto, translated from the Latin, states, “Knowledge crowns those who seek her.” In contrast, a Kangaroo Court cares more about reaching a “guilty” verdict (1), rather than engaging in an impartial search for knowledge and truth.
Unfortunately, many New York schools have ignored the most rudimentary notions of fairness. As a result, judges have handed down more decisions against New York colleges than schools in any other state, including states with larger populations.
Judges have ruled the following New York institutions violated key due process, Title IX, and/or contractual obligations:
- Syracuse University – 6 decisions
- Columbia University – 3 decisions
- Cornell University – 3 decisions
- SUNY Purchase – 3 decisions
- Colgate University – 2 decisions
- RPI – 2 decisions
- Hobart and William Smith – 2 decisions
- SUNY Stony Brook – 2 decisions
- Hofstra University – 1 decision
- Hamilton College – 1 decision
- New York University – 1 decision
- Skidmore College – 1 decision
- John Fisher College – 1 decision
- SUNY Albany – 1 decision
- SUNY Cortland – 1 decision
- United States Merchant Marine Academy – 1 decision
A complete listing of the case citations is available online (2).
The campus adjudications that are challenged in court represent a small subset of the total number of Title IX cases, suggesting that due process violations may be endemic at New York institutions. Due process includes timely notification of allegations, an impartial investigation, fair hearing, the right to appeal, and the presumption of innocence.
In 2015, New York enacted its “Enough is Enough” law that mandated a uniform definition of affirmative consent (3). The law did not address the due process rights of the accused.
More information about these and other judicial decisions is available in SAVE’s Analysis of Judicial Decisions Affirming the 2020 Title IX Regulations (4).
Citations: