Responding to Students: Remedies in Title IX Sexual Assault Cases

Sexual violence on college campuses is rampant with an estimated one in five women being victims of sexual assault. Faculty members at all levels of education should be particularly concerned with this and strive to facilitate justice and support for survivors. This study adds to the literature on Title IX and sexual violence by using the theoretical framework of institutional betrayal to examine the nature of institutional response. Specifically, it couples Department of Education Title IX sexual assault agreements (institutional responses) with college Title IX-related officer interviews to contextualize responses. The study emphasizes that responses are bureaucratic and institution-focused, which leads to institutional betrayal. This study makes a contribution of importing the theory of institutional betrayal into the public administration literature, which can help pursue issues of societal justice and institutional fairness.