Members of the Brown Community,

I am pleased to announce that Brown University has hired its first full-time Title IX program officer. Amanda L. Walsh, a graduate of Northeastern University and the Roger Williams School of Law, is currently staff attorney at the Victim Rights Law Center in Boston. She will begin her work at Brown in early May.

Amanda brings outstanding skills and experiences to this position. She has helped schools develop and implement sound policies on non-discrimination and prevention of sexual violence and has trained staff members on Title IX compliance. As staff attorney and a member of the Massachusetts Bar, she has represented high school and college victims of sexual violence, trained educational administrators on campus sexual violence issues, and advocated for clients at administrative and legal proceedings, including university disciplinary hearings.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of the 1972 Civil Rights Act has provisions that apply broadly across institutions, involving the experience of students, faculty, and staff. Previously, responsibility for the management and oversight of Brown’s compliance with these provisions has been shared by a number of departments. One of Amanda’s important responsibilities will be to oversee, coordinate, and establish regular communication among offices and staff members involved in Title IX compliance. Her office will play a leading role in coordinating education and training on issues of sexual assault and gender-based harassment and discrimination, overseeing the resolution of alleged violations of Brown’s policies related to Title IX, and implementing the changes in Brown’s policies and practices that result from the Task Force on Sexual Assault, many of which have already been put into place.

The University has been working thoughtfully to expand programs that will make our campus safer and more supportive. The decision to hire a full-time Title IX program officer was an early part of that effort. I commend the committee chair, Liza Cariaga-Lo, vice president for academic development, diversity and inclusion, and the members of the selection committee for their dedicated work: Russell Carey, executive vice president for planning and policy; Karen Davis, vice president for human resources; William Furuyama, undergraduate student; Michael Grabo, associate counsel; Margaret Klawunn, vice president for campus life and student services; Sara Matthiesen, graduate student; Mark Porter, chief of public safety; Bita Shooshani, Psychotherapist at Counseling and Psychological Services; Maahika Srinivasan, undergraduate student and UCS president; Fox Wetle, dean of the School of Public Health; and Erin Wu, medical student.

I look forward to Amanda’s arrival at Brown, and I invite you to join me in welcoming her to the campus community.

Sincerely,

Christina H. Paxson
President
Professor of Economics and Public Policy
Brown University