Safeguarding Communities From Sexual Predators: What College Presidents and Trustees Should Ask

In recent years, many colleges and universities have faced sexual predator scandals. Often institutional leaders were uninformed about allegations of incidents on their campuses. This failure of leadership oversight has many presidents and trustees wondering how to safeguard their communities from similar tragedies.

This report provides institutions with key questions campus leaders should ask about abuse and suggestions for creating a culture of prevention and reporting.

• Apply standards and policies impartially and consistently, without exception — including for athletics and for employees in highly visible positions.
• If possible, give one staff member oversight of all reports of sexual abuse so your institution can identify trends and repeat offenders or establish a process that looks for these patterns.
• While presidents and trustees don’t need to be involved in every allegation, they should establish clear guidelines for regular updates about critical inquiries.