Waiting to Hear: Where are the voices of the Title IX Signatories?

Often times with feminist issues and leaders, if you are not with them, you are against them. Sometimes we fear to ask questions of our feminist leaders, for fear of seeming contrarian. I am not. However, Trying to speak out with an alternative vision for feminism can be particularly difficult for fear of being perceived as being a chauvinist, a self-hating feminist, or as Gloria Steinem said, “If you are not a feminist, you are a masochist.”

However, I am feminist. A large majority people in the Yale community, including myself, thought something had to be done about the way Yale handles cases of sexual harassment and assault. However, judging by the general sentiment I have experienced, many people in the Yale community are more frustrated than pleased with how the 16 signatories of the Title IX complaint went about their way in reforming Yale’s sexual grievance system in near secrecy, without any community lead up or dialogue before going to the Federal government.

I know that what the Title IX complaint is trying to do is reform the institutional inner workings of Yale's policies surrounding sexual harassment and assault. I agree something had to be done, but the fact that there was no public lead up calls into question some of the tactics they used. Of course they got results, but I often wonder at what expense? Especially when they have not voiced their complaints in the Yale student community as directly as they have to national news... The result is a lot of miscommunication on campus. A lot of frustration. A lot of unnecessary sexual jokes and at times, hostilities towards what has been called an "unnecessary and wasteful investigation." As I overheard someone at lunch the other day, this was an "Egregious waste of Federal spending on an investigation that could take place internally." I disagree that this was a waste of spending or a waste of time---something had to happen! However, I think that there has to be major clarifications about the nature of what the Title IX complaint entails, how it was created, etc.

Basically, what I hope and expect is that the public representatives of the Title IX Signatories step forward and explain directly to their peers the nature of their investigation and what it entails, and more importantly, why they chose the tactics they did with so little lead up. If we are to follow our feminist spearheads, we want to know what exactly they are saying.

I just really hope that the Yale community clarifies something that could be potentially divisive in the student body. Title IX can be a very positive step for change, so long as we accept it as such and not misconstrue or misconceive its implications.