The newly announced Goucher Strategic Plan for the next three years is nothing short of a hot mess. President Devearaux dismissed student concerns within the Strategic Plan meetings, and current student struggles within the college were ignored in favor of corporate partnerships. To say that students are upset with how this situation is being handled is an understandment, despite the administration attempting to hide that fact from alumni and trustees of the college.
Perhaps most egregiously, the large amount of cuts to EIE and Title IX, including the firing of deputy Title IX coordinator Kirsten Wood and the dismissal of all student Peer Educators within the Wellness Center were disregarded by President Devereaux. In response to a student asking about the timeline of existing Title IX reports dealing with both the use of racist language and sexual assault, President Deveraux said that there is a “fine line between being a jerk and violating the rules.” This is a fundamental misunderstanding of what the office of Title IX is designed for.
Title IX is intended to “prohibit sex-based discrimination,” as defined by the U.S. Department of Education. If a student is feeling uncomfortable, they should not be discouraged from reporting to Title IX. It is not simply a report and action based office, it is a place for students to go for support if an event occurred that makes them feel unsafe while pursuing an education.
While broadening the scope of what Title IX will create a longer wait time for reports, that is why Peer Educators within the Wellness Center are essential to the process. The Wellness Center, or what is left of it, is a place for the students waiting on their Title IX report to be processed to go to for support from someone that is educated in the matter, can help them file the report, or can simply be a familiar face to sit with them.
While President Devereaux claims that we are spending more on Title IX this year than last year, the details on what that money is being spent on was not revealed to the students, nor mentioned in the strategic plan. When a student asked about the plan to address the lack of accessibility of the Title IX office, President Devearaux said that the administration was committed to “looking at it.”
The commitment to simply “look into it” is how the Goucher administration has avoided taking concrete action to better the students’ experience at the college. The purpose of a strategic plan is to have a straightforward list of the college’s priorities within the next three years. In an email directly to the student body at Goucher College, Kent encouraged the student body to share “additional areas of focus that are equally or more important than those identified by the Strategic Plan Steering Committee.” By not mentioning the improvement or development of Title IX in this plan, it makes the concerned student body feel as though it is not a priority to the college.
With the current visibility of Title IX cases across the country, it’s more important than ever to ensure that Goucher College has an accessible and effective Title IX to ensure student safety and comfort. We need a concrete plan, both regarding the necessary improvements to the office of Title IX and student support regarding discrimination.
Students also had complaints about the college’s increasing focus on and support of Artificial Intelligence, the creation of new majors and the neglecting of current struggling majors, and the focus on advertisement to the general public rather than supporting of student voices within. There are many issues that need to be addressed within the Strategic Plan in order to make it fit for our school, and listening to student voices is the only way to accomplish.
By Sara Geitner ’28
Featured Image via Goucher’s Website
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