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EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — A new office at Michigan State University has taken on the responsibility of investigating discrimination cases reported on the East Lansing campus.
The university's Office of Institutional Equity was created last year to handle the complaints, including sexual assaults and civil rights violations.
Federal investigators with the U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights last year completed an investigation of the school's handling of sexual assault complaints and identified two complaints where the school failed to respond in a timely manner.
Office of Institutional Equity director Ande Durojaiye previously worked as an attorney in the Office for Civil Rights and as the executive director of equity, inclusion and compliance at Florida Atlantic University. After he was hired to lead Michigan State's new office, he recruited Debra Rousseau Martinez, who was then an assistant Ingham County prosecutor specializing in sexual assault and child abuse cases.
Durojaiye and Martinez tell the Lansing State Journal (http://on.lsj.com/1PPJShj ) that they hope to help bring the confidence back to students, faculty and staff that complaints will be handled professionally and in a timely manner.
"We are brand new, have a completely clean slate and we can help really effectuate change and put our mark on this campus so (the Office of Institutional Equity) is an office that is a resource going forward," Durojaiye said.
Investigators with the office who have prior expertise will work to build knowledge in all areas so they can handle any potential case. The office also plans to educate students about what behaviors won't be tolerated.
"If we establish some standards of practice for our students," Durojaiye said, "they can take those out into the real world and effectuate some change on a much larger scale."
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Information from: Lansing State Journal, http://www.lansingstatejournal.com
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