Rhodes College Title IX Coordinator role vacated after a year of controversy

An immediate nationwide search for a new Title IX coordinator began in January, according to Vice President for Strategic Initiatives Sherry Turner. 

In an email sent to Rhodes community members, Turner said that Tiffany Cox, Rhodes College’s current Title IX Coordinator, will vacate her position on February 27th. “I am writing to you today to announce a bittersweet transition. Please join me in congratulating Tiffany Cox, Title IX Coordinator, who has been appointed as the new Director of the Office of Institutional Equity and Chief Compliance Officer at the University of Memphis,” Turner wrote. 

Cox took on the role of Rhodes College’s first full-time Title IX Coordinator in October 2016. Her job is to oversee how the school handles reports of sexual misconduct.

Students have long criticized the Title IX office’s response to sexual assault on campus, and Cox’s mid-semester departure comes amid recent heightened scrutiny.

Title IX lawsuits

In February 2019, the student organization Culture of Consent, demanded answers and actions during an on-campus protest a week after a female student reported that she was sexually assaulted during a Valentine’s day party at the Sigma Alpha Epsilon (SAE) house on campus. 

Over summer break two former male students — who were found responsible for the reported assault at the SAE house— sued Rhodes alleging violations of their Title IX and due process rights. In July 2019, Cox testified during the preliminary injunction hearing for one of the male students. However, both the transcript of Cox’s testimony and the court’s subsequent opinion were placed under a permanent seal. 

Before the start of the Fall 2019 semester, both lawsuits ended in settlement agreements.

In November 2019, the recent female graduate who accused the two students of sexually assaulting her at the SAE Valentine’s day party filed a lawsuit against Rhodes College, the SAE national and local chapter and three additional parties.

The former student, only identified as Jane Doe, claims that she was sexually assaulted when she became incapacitated after ingesting copious amounts of alcohol and illegal drugs, at the encouragement of her alleged perpetrators. In her complaint, Doe argues that Rhodes was aware of the extent of alcohol and drug abuse and sexual assault at its fraternities. Yet, despite this knowledge, Rhodes failed to enact reasonable precautions to prevent these hazards, according to the complaint.

Clery Act noncompliance 

In September 2019, Rhodes College was deemed noncompliant with the Clery Act after a compliance assessment was conducted by the U.S. Department of Education. 

The assessment was triggered by a complaint filed against Rhodes College, according to documents obtained through a FOIA request. A senior at Rhodes contacted the Department in May 2019 with multiple allegations of noncompliance. The complaint’s statements focused on the college’s inaccurate reporting statistics, deficiencies in its Annual Safety Report, timely warnings not being issues and daily crime log errors. 

Emails obtained through FOIA show that the Department verified multiple areas of concern and noncompliance found in the college’s Title IX policies, Annual Security & Fire Safety Report, Drug Alcohol Abuse Prevention Program policies, and the Daily Crime Log. The Department’s required revisions to Rhodes’ Title IX policies included the college’s ability to enforce no-contact orders, its ability to provide victim services, its ability to conduct investigations within certain time frames, its ability to protect against retaliation and developing a bystander intervention policy for students and employees. 

After a review of revisions made by Rhodes College, the Department determined that the current Annual Safety report was “minimally compliant”. At the time of the completion of the assessment, Rhodes’ effort in verifying the accuracy of all crime statistics reported to the Department was still ongoing. 

Steven Healy, an expert on campus safety, commented on the Department’s findings in an article published by the Commercial Appeal. “With the Department (of Education) saying it’s ‘minimally compliant,’ they’re basically saying, ‘Yeah, you’ve checked all the boxes’” to be Clery Act compliant, Healy said. The use of “minimally” shows that the department likely has other concerns related to the institution’s policies or practices, Healy said. 

The Department advised Rhodes that “its remedial actions cannot and do not diminish the seriousness of these violations nor do they eliminate the possibility that the Department will engage in further compliance monitoring activities to diagnose and correct past violations and to ensure that full remedial action is taken.” 

Emily’s Letter

In November 2019, the organization Culture of Consent organized another protest after Emily, a recent graduate, went public in an open letter to President Majorie Hass. Her letter detailed the many “glaring issues” with how the Title IX office handled her sexual assault case. One complaint involved her disgust when Tiffany Cox asked her to sign a confidentiality agreement in exchange for almost $3000. 

External Reviewers

On Jan. 24, President Hass informed students that Meredith Smith of Tulane University and Kevin Swartout of Georgia State University have agreed to serve as external reviewers of Rhodes’ Title IX policies and procedures. 

Meredith is currently the Assistant Provost for Title IX and Clery Compliance and Title IX Coordinator at Tulane and holds a JD from The Ohio State University. Kevin Swartout is Associate Professor of Psychology at Georgia State University, where he researches sexual violence perpetration and victimization. 

According to Hass, these external reviewers will “bring additional expertise, experience, and accountability to campus.”