Establishing a White House Task Force To Protect Students From Sexual Assault, 4383-4387 [2014-01645]

Agencies

• Executive Office of the President

[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 17 (Monday, January 27, 2014)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 4383-4387]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Printing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-01645]



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Vol. 79

Monday,

No. 17

January 27, 2014

Part II





The President





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Memorandum of January 22, 2014--Establishing a White House Task Force 
To Protect Students From Sexual Assault


                        Presidential Documents 



Federal Register / Vol. 79 , No. 17 / Monday, January 27, 2014 / 
Presidential Documents

___________________________________________________________________

Title 3--
The President

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                Memorandum of January 22, 2014

                
Establishing a White House Task Force To Protect 
                Students From Sexual Assault

                Memorandum for the Heads of Executive Departments and 
                Agencies

                The prevalence of rape and sexual assault at our 
                Nation's institutions of higher education is both 
                deeply troubling and a call to action. Studies show 
                that about one in five women is a survivor of attempted 
                or completed sexual violence while in college. In 
                addition, a substantial number of men experience sexual 
                violence during college. Although schools have made 
                progress in addressing rape and sexual assault, more 
                needs to be done to ensure safe, secure environments 
                for students of higher education.

                There are a number of Federal laws aimed at making our 
                campuses safer, and the Departments of Education and 
                Justice have been working to enforce them. Among other 
                requirements, institutions of higher education 
                participating in Federal student financial assistance 
                programs (institutions), including colleges, 
                universities, community colleges, graduate and 
                professional schools, for-profit schools, trade 
                schools, and career and technical schools, must provide 
                students with information on programs aimed at 
                preventing rape and sexual assault, and on procedures 
                for students to reporting rape and sexual assault. 
                Institutions must also adopt and publish grievance 
                procedures that provide for the prompt and equitable 
                resolution of rape and sexual assault complaints, and 
                investigate reports of rape and sexual assault and take 
                swift action to prevent their recurrence. Survivors of 
                rape and sexual assault must also be provided with 
                information on how to access the support and services 
                they need. Reports show, however, that institutions' 
                compliance with these Federal laws is uneven and, in 
                too many cases, inadequate. Building on existing 
                enforcement efforts, we must strengthen and address 
                compliance issues and provide institutions with 
                additional tools to respond to and address rape and 
                sexual assault.

                Therefore, I am directing the Office of the Vice 
                President and the White House Council on Women and 
                Girls to lead an interagency effort to address campus 
                rape and sexual assault, including coordinating Federal 
                enforcement efforts by executive departments and 
                agencies (agencies) and helping institutions meet their 
                obligations under Federal law. To these ends, it is 
                hereby ordered as follows:

                Section 1. Establishment of the White House Task Force 
                to Protect Students from Sexual Assault. There is 
                established a White House Task Force to Protect 
                Students from Sexual Assault (Task Force). The Task 
                Force shall be co-chaired by designees of the Office of 
                the Vice President and the White House Council on Women 
                and Girls.

                    (a) Membership of the Task Force. In addition to 
                the Co-Chairs, the Task Force shall consist of the 
                following members:

(i) the Attorney General;

(ii) the Secretary of the Interior;

(iii) the Secretary of Health and Human Services;

(iv) the Secretary of Education;

(v) the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy;

(vi) the Director of the Domestic Policy Council;

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(vii) the Cabinet Secretary; and

(viii) the heads of agencies or offices as the Co-Chairs may designate.

                    (b) A member of the Task Force may designate, to 
                perform the Task Force functions of the member, senior 
                officials who are part of the member's agency or 
                office, and who are full-time officers or employees of 
                the Federal Government.

                Sec. 2. Mission and Function of the Task Force. (a) The 
                Task Force shall work with agencies to develop a 
                coordinated Federal response to campus rape and sexual 
                assault. The functions of the Task Force are advisory 
                only and shall include making recommendations to meet 
                the following objectives:

(i) providing institutions with evidence-based best and promising practices 
for preventing and responding to rape and sexual assault;

(ii) building on the Federal Government's existing enforcement efforts to 
ensure that institutions comply fully with their legal obligations to 
prevent and respond to rape and sexual assault;

(iii) increasing the transparency of the Federal Government's enforcement 
activities concerning rape and sexual assault, consistent with applicable 
law and the interests of affected students;

(iv) broadening the public's awareness of individual institutions' 
compliance with their legal obligation to address rape and sexual assault; 
and

(v) facilitating coordination among agencies engaged in addressing rape and 
sexual assault and those charged with helping bring institutions into 
compliance with the law.

                    (b) In accordance with applicable law and in 
                addition to regular meetings, the Task Force shall 
                consult with external stakeholders, including 
                institution officials, student groups, parents, 
                athletic and educational associations, local rape 
                crisis centers, and law enforcement agencies.
                    (c) Because rape and sexual assault also occur in 
                the elementary and secondary school context, the Task 
                Force shall evaluate how its proposals and 
                recommendations may apply to, and may be implemented 
                by, schools, school districts, and other elementary and 
                secondary educational entities receiving Federal 
                financial assistance.

                Sec. 3. Action Plan. (a) Within 90 days of the date of 
                this memorandum, the Task Force shall develop and 
                submit proposals and recommendations to the President 
                for:

(i) providing examples of instructions, policies, and protocols for 
institutions, including: rape and sexual assault policies; prevention 
programs; crisis intervention and advocacy services; complaint and 
grievance procedures; investigation protocols; adjudicatory procedures; 
disciplinary sanctions; and training and orientation modules for students, 
staff, and faculty;

(ii) measuring the success of prevention and response efforts at 
institutions, whether through compliance with individual policies or 
through broader assessments of campus climate, attitudes and safety, and 
providing the public with this information;

(iii) maximizing the Federal Government's effectiveness in combatting 
campus rape and sexual assault by, among other measures, making its 
enforcement activities transparent and accessible to students and 
prospective students nationwide; and

(iv) promoting greater coordination and consistency among the agencies and 
offices that enforce the Federal laws addressing campus rape and sexual 
assault and support improved campus responses to sexual violence.

                    (b) Within 1 year of the date of this memorandum, 
                and then on an annual basis, the Task Force shall 
                provide a report to the President on implementation 
                efforts with respect to this memorandum.

                Sec. 4. General Provisions. (a) This memorandum is not 
                intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, 
                substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in 
                equity by any party against the United States, its 
                departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, 
                employees, or agents, or any other person.

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                    (b) Nothing in this memorandum shall be construed 
                to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) the authority granted by law to an agency or the head thereof; or

(ii) the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget 
relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

                    (c) The heads of agencies and offices shall assist 
                and provide information to the Task Force, consistent 
                with applicable law, as may be necessary to carry out 
                the functions of the Task Force. Each agency and office 
                shall bear its own expenses of participating in the 
                Task Force.
                    (d) This memorandum shall be implemented consistent 
                with applicable law and subject to the availability of 
                appropriations.
                    (e) The Secretary of Education is authorized and 
                directed to publish this memorandum in the Federal 
                Register.
                
                
                    (Presidential Sig.)

                THE WHITE HOUSE,

                    Washington, January 22, 2014.

[FR Doc. 2014-01645
Filed 1-24-14; 11:15 am]
Billing code 4000-01