Proposed bill would add sexual assault charges to college transcripts
A proposed bill would add campus rape charges to college transcripts.
Congresswoman Jackie Speier introduced legislation last week that would require colleges to include notation of sexual assault charges on student transcripts. The notation would stay on the transcript for at least five years and would not include the name of the victim or witnesses.
Rep. Speier says colleges and universities should know whether they’re admitting someone that poses a threat to students and staff on their campus. Due to confusion surrounding federal privacy law, universities and colleges don’t have a way of knowing if an incoming transfer student has committed sexual assault.
“Universities and colleges are perfectly willing to include academic infractions like plagiarism on students’ records, yet students who have committed sexual assault can walk away from campus with a clean academic bill of health. This is appalling and, whether intentional or not, shows that acts of sexual violence on campus are less serious than cheating. My bill will ensure that students who try to transfer schools to avoid the consequences of their violent acts will, at a minimum, face the same consequences as students who transfer because they’ve cheated on an exam,” Rep. Speier said.
The Safe Transfer Act would require universities to include information related to campus sexual assault on the alleged perpetrator’s transcript, make sure the disclosure requirement stays on five years after the date a school’s disciplinary proceeding was completed. The bill would also require the perpetrator to be notified of the disclosure, and given the opportunity to write a statement to accompany the disclosure on the record.
“Your official transcript is used for jobs, getting into law school, med school,” UTEP student Isaac Varela said.
Varela says the proposed bill would act as a deterrent.
“What research does show is that those that commit sexual assault or rape are likely to be repeat offenders, not always, but it is a pattern,” Stephanie Karr, with the Center Against Sexual and Family Violence.
If passed, transcripts would not include the name of victims or witnesses, but Karr says they’re still concerned about safeguards and privacy for survivors.
“Would there be retaliation from the aggressor or the aggressor’s colleagues or friends or family, against the victim.”
It’s too soon to tell how the bill will fare in Congress, but there’s hope if passes, it’ll be a step in the right direction.
“There is a pattern of repetition and behavior and we certainly don’t want there to be any more victims, anywhere on any campus.”
UTEP officials sent ABC-7 a statement saying, “We are aware of the proposed legislation and continue to monitor its progression through the federal legislative process. In general terms, we are in support of efforts that provide transparency within admissions.”
