Ella Kitchens, Features Editor–
Two students may be in the same class, but under a no contact directive, they cannot communicate with each other in any way. A mutual no contact directive is a supportive and protective measure that can be established through the Title IX office in response to cases of sexual misconduct.
“It’s essentially exactly what it sounds like, mutual no contact,” said a student who requested anonymity and who has a no contact order lasting through graduation. “None of you can contact the other without consequences.”
According to Justin Brown, director of civil rights and Title IX and senior advisor to the president, these directives do not permit any contact between the parties involved in the misconduct, including verbal, electronic, written, and third party communication (such as passing messages through friends).
“[No contact directives] are a valuable tool and can be used in a lot of the processes that we oversee,” said Brown. “They can be the start of an investigation or they can be ultimately the only thing that we ever do within a case because it solves the problem from the complainant’s point of view and from the respondent’s point of view.”
If someone witnesses or experiences sexual misconduct, they can report this conduct to the Title IX office. The complainant, the individual alleged to be a victim of misconduct, is then called in for a conversation with Brown.
After this initial report, no contact directives can be used as a supportive measure for students who do not choose to seek formal action. Other supportive measures can include the Title IX office reaching out to the student’s professors to assist their learning, and connecting students to counseling and other resources.
“Supportive measures are mostly directed at that person who made the report,” said Brown. “A no contact directive can also be a supportive measure. It’s just the only supportive measure that involves the other party in a very direct way.”
If a student chooses to make a formal written complaint, Denison conducts an investigation and holds a hearing to determine what, if any, policies the respondent violated.
“That’s what’s described in our sexual misconduct policy at length,” said Brown. “It begins with a written formal complaint. That’s a part of federal law; it’s not an artifact of our own process.”
For students who make a formal complaint and go through the formal investigation and adjudication process, no contact directives can be used as an interim protective measure. A no contact order can additionally be part of the final decision in the formal investigation.
The no contact itself does not require a finding and does not constitute a finding of any kind of wrongdoing or policy violation,” said Brown. “A no contact directive is just that: it is a communication from the university that two people are not to communicate with each other anymore.”
“In some instances a mutual no contact order can feel like just brushing it under the rug,” said the student with a no contact order. “The whole thing is basically just stay away from each other, don’t talk to each other… It’s not necessarily a consequence or punishment.”
Following a formal complaint, no contact directives can also be used as part of an agreed upon alternate resolution between both parties rather than an investigation.
“Alternate resolution or what in the law often refers to as informal resolution is kind of one rung down [from a formal investigation],” said Brown. “If we’re dealing with a Title IX case, that still requires a written formal complaint. But [the alternate resolution] can take a lot of forms.”
In addition to their use by the Title IX office, these orders can also be instituted for purposes outside of sexual misconduct, such as cases of discrimination or harassment of other types. These cases would be handled by the Office of Community Values & Student Conduct. However, all sexual misconduct, whether or not it qualifies as Title IX misconduct, would still fall under Brown’s scope.
“As long as it’s sexual misconduct, [the case is] still within our area of responsibility, even if Title IX doesn’t apply,” said Brown.
When a no contact directive is put in place, both students receive an email from Brown instituting the directive and detailing what it means. In the email to the respondent, Brown requests that they meet with him, which Brown said helps answer questions and give both student’s perspectives.
Clubs and classes are one area where these directives might cause issues. Unlike a legally binding restraining order, no contact directives do not require any distance apart.
“We are in a much smaller environment here,” said Brown. “The point of a no contact directive is not to interfere with anyone’s ability to continue to be a student. It is to stop that communication between those two parties. A distance requirement would be something we couldn’t issue without involving a significantly more due process that might even require a finding of some kind before that could be imposed.”
If students are in class together, they can both stay in the class. Faculty support may be needed to keep the parties separate; for example, faculty could ensure the students are not put together for group projects. If students are in student organizations together, sometimes more specific arrangements are necessary on a case-by-case basis.
“Supportive measures, protective measures are not really intended to impose substantially on either party,” said Brown. “They’re supposed to be able to allow coexistence.”
“I would like it if there was a distance requirement,” said the student with a no contact order. “But for the most part if we [the two parties involved] see each other in a space and one of us has the ability to leave, we will. So if I see [them] and I don’t necessarily have to be where I am, I’ll just walk away.”
At Denison, a significant amount of Title IX reports are resolved with no contact orders according to Brown.
“If you’re not doing an investigation but do want something involving the other party, a no contact is typically where students will land,” Brown said. “Despite that commonness, the number that are violated is very low. So I would say most of the time they are successful.”
Although they are common solutions, students cannot just go into the Title IX office and request a no contact directive for their own convenience.
“It’s not a service that civil rights and Title IX provides with no evaluation,” said Brown. “It needs to be appropriate for the circumstance.”