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NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights is investigating allegations of sexual violence at Vanderbilt University. News of the investigation was first reported by The Tennessean.
The investigation follows complaints filed in November by students and former students at Vanderbilt who alleged that the school responded inadequately to reports of sexual assault. It also comes amid a criminal case in Nashville of allegations that four former Vanderbilt football players took part in a gang rape of a student in a school dorm last June.
Similar complaints have been filed at a number of other schools. Currently the office is investigating 51 schools for allegations of sexual violence on campus, a spokesman for the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights said in an email. The office would only confirm the investigation but would not discuss any details, the spokesman said. He did not provide a list of the schools, but said it would be released in coming days.
There are a number of federal laws that require colleges to address sexual assaults on campus. They include the renewed Violence Against Women Act, which has new provisions for sexual assault on campus and Title IX, which bars gender discrimination in education.
"Vanderbilt is fully cooperating with a Title IX regulatory compliance review being conducted by the Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights," Beth Fortune, a spokeswoman for Vanderbilt, said in an email. "We understand the Department of Education to be conducting these reviews at a number of campuses across the country."
She said the university has not seen any complaints that may have been filed with the Office for Civil Rights.
"Vanderbilt is committed to complying with Title IX and protecting the safety and well-being of our students," Fortune said.
Six women filed complaints against Vanderbilt in November that was coordinated with a complaint filed against Amherst College.
This week President Barack Obama released guidelines for universities to combat the epidemic of sexual assaults on campus. A White House report said that 1 in 5 female students are sexually assaulted but only 1 in 8 student victims report it.
The federal office can fine schools and force them to agree to do more to combat rape on campus and encourage victims to report being attacked. Last year the office fined Yale University $165,000 for failing to include sexual assaults in 2001 and 2002 in its reporting of campus crime statistics.
The Obama administration created a new website to help victims of sexual assaults on campus find help. Notalone.gov will also show if there has been any enforcement action against a school.
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