[Federal Register Volume 79, Number 17 (Monday, January 27, 2014)]
[Presidential Documents]
[Pages 4385-4387]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2014-01645]
[[Page 4383]]
Vol. 79
Monday,
No. 17
January 27, 2014
Part II
The President
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
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
[[Page 4385]]
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;
[[Page 4386]]
(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.
[[Page 4387]]
(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