Montana State University opens Campus Civil Rights unit

Montana State University is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights for discrimination. (Keila Szpaller/The Daily Montanan)

Montana State University announced this week it is opening a new Campus Civil Rights office this summer, a consolidation of a couple of other units at the Bozeman campus.

“CCR will respond to concerns regarding all types of discrimination, harassment, and retaliation,” MSU said in an email Monday to the campus community. “It will also respond to concerns of stalking, dating violence, domestic violence, and sexual assault.

“CCR will be a resource for all students, faculty, staff and campus visitors.”

MSU spokesperson Michael Becker said the unit is a reorganization of other offices “to better serve our students, faculty and staff.”

MSU is not adding staff or increasing funds for the “budget neutral” unit, which will provide sexual assault prevention training, peer education, civil rights investigations and other services on campus.

“Student leaders asked us to offer a highly visible unit that would provide better access and services to the university community,” Becker said in an email. “By consolidating efforts, we are able to respond to the students’ recommendations and to expand services in a more effective manner.”

MSU is facing allegations it failed to respond to discrimination after a rash of students filed complaints last year with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.

Since October 2023, the Office for Civil Rights has opened six investigations into Montana’s largest public university. The federal office enforces civil rights at universities that receive money from the U.S. government.

MSU said it has cooperated with federal investigators and the cases are pending.

Letters from the Office for Civil Rights to MSU President Waded Cruzado also warn against retaliation by MSU against individuals who assert their rights under the law, file discrimination complaints, or help others participate in a proceeding.

In an email, Becker did not specifically address whether the new Campus Civil Rights unit would conduct administrator education in addition to peer education. He said research shows peer education approaches “increase effectiveness and satisfaction, irrespective of groups, titles or categories.”

“MSU Campus Civil Rights will avail itself of best practices to ensure that optimum services are offered to the university community,” Becker said.

A student who has led the call for reform at MSU said she appreciates the campus forming the new unit but also has questions about whether it will be a meaningful change for students, especially victims of discrimination.

“I hope this is a first step towards justice and resolution for all those who were harmed by the university’s lack of action in cases of death threats, sexual assault, discrimination and harassment,” said Alexandra Lin, who is studying wetland biology at MSU. “But I have concerns that it is a Band-Aid over a bullet wound.”

In spring 2023, Lin led a campaign to encourage peers who faced violence, threats of violence and racism at MSU to file complaints with the feds. Lin, who is queer and Taiwanese, filed her own complaint with the Office for Civil Rights, and her case is among those pending.

The email from MSU to the campus said the new unit will combine the Office of Institutional Equity and the VOICE Center to “strengthen access to resources and support.”

The Office of Institutional Equity investigated complaints and coordinated compliance with federal law that prohibits discrimination based on sex. The VOICE Center provided support for those affected by sexual assault and harassment and offered prevention presentations and trainings.

The announcement outlined five services the new Campus Civil Rights unit will provide as follows:

• “Preventative education and training” to include workshops on topics such as affirmative consent and combating discrimination in the workplace;
• A peer educator program made up of volunteers who will “lead educational sessions” on topics such as sexual assault prevention;
• Student resource advocates to help students experiencing “any type of discrimination” and connect them with resources such as mental health counseling;
• Case managers, who can help coordinate support such as changes to housing and class schedules, mutual no-contact orders, and parenting accommodations; and
• Civil rights investigations into reports of discrimination, harassment and retaliation.

Becker said the change will benefit students, in particular with the “assignment of case managers,” who will coordinate support for students such as changes in housing and extensions on tests. In the past, he said, different offices would address those different needs separately.

“The CCR brings together various campus programs and offices that provided support in a dispersed manner in the past and which will now operate under the same tent and in a coordinated way,” Becker said in an email. “With this reorganization, students, faculty and staff can find access to the resources they need easier, whether that is training, education or to seek help with a complaint.”

In a text, Lin said she hopes the new unit will be more than a new public relations tool for a campus that has been plagued with complaints about racism, sexism and homophobia, and for MSU President Cruzado , who has tried to maintain distance from the problems.

Cruzado has declined numerous requests for interviews from the Daily Montanan and did so again Tuesday through Becker.

The president acknowledged the federal probe in an email to the campus community in February 2024 in advance of a site visit from Office for Civil Rights investigators but has otherwise stayed silent.

“Previous university administration actions have showed that even the most egregious cases of discrimination, sexual assault and harassment can be swept under the rug if they are inconvenient for the image of the university and Cruzado,” Lin said.

“I hope that more resources and support for people who experience harm on campus will be a net good, but I am concerned that the new CCR will simply be used as a bureaucratic device and PR distraction.”

The Office for Civil Rights is investigating allegations MSU didn’t appropriately address discrimination against people based on sex, race, disability and Jewish origin. It is also investigating whether MSU retaliated against Lin, who advocated on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community.

In an email, Becker also addressed how MSU will encourage students to seek services at the new unit given some recent distrust of the campus administration and preference to seek intervention from the federal Office for Civil Rights instead.

“In the last few years, MSU instituted a Resource Fair as a mechanism to better inform our students, faculty and staff about resources available on campus,” Becker said. “MSU will continue to encourage individuals to make use of CCR’s services through promoting awareness at events such as student orientation sessions, as well as through marketing efforts such as posters and social media, and through referrals from other campus units.”

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