The Huntington News October 2, 2020
The independent student newspaper of the Northeastern community
@HuntNewsNU
NU’S SEXUAL AND GENDER-BASED HARASSMENT POLICY FILLS NEW FEDERAL TITLE IX GAPS By Maya Homan News Staff Northeastern University has updated its Title IX policy in accordance with changes mandated by U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos and the U.S. Department of Education. In response, Northeastern’s Office for University Equity and Compliance, or OUEC, has created a new policy on Sexual and Gen-
der-Based Harassment, or SGBH, to protect students against instances of sexual assault and harassment that are no longer covered under the updated Title IX policy. The Title IX policy changes went into effect nationwide Aug. 14 after a federal judge struck down a New York State and New York City Board of Education lawsuit against the Department of Education. The updated guidelines apply to all schools that
Campus
receive federal funding, including private colleges and universities. The revised policy has made several key changes in the ways schools approach investigating and resolving allegations of sexual misconduct. It has also drawn harsh criticism from women’s rights organizations and sexual violence prevention groups for narrowing the scope of misconduct that can be investigated by schools, and increasing protections for perpe-
City
trators of sexual violence. “Schools now dismiss any sexual misconduct that happens outside of campus-controlled buildings or educational activities,” said second-year politics, philosophy and economics major Kate Petka, who heads the Title IX Transparency Initiative at Northeastern’s Interdisciplinary Women’s Council. “So what that means is if I am sexually assaulted in my off-campus apartment by
Lifestyle
another member of the Northeastern community, Northeastern is not responsible under Title IX to investigate that.” This mandate is expected to curtail the number of Title IX cases schools are responsible for investigating, especially considering the majority of reported sexual assaults at many universities occur off-campus, according to the Associated Press. POLICY, on Page 2
Opinion
‘My test was positive, then negative’
Restaurant MIDA built on love for pasta, generosity
Column: The do’s and don’ts of hotel living
Op-ed: ResMail has not delivered on its promises
“It was the most bizarre weekend I’ve had in a long time”: A night spent in isolation housing
“You’re coming for the whole package, the whole dining experience,” said owner Douglass Williams.
First-year Clara McCourt shares her tips for the untraditional dorming experience.
“ResMail’s shortcomings are ridiculous when compared to how strongly other [NU] operations perform.”
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Early COVID-19 testing shows promising results By Seamus McAvoy News Staff At first glance, the total transformation of the Cabot Physical Education Center into a state-ofthe-art testing site is daunting. Inside, past a gauntlet of assistants, 24 testing stations populate the cavernous arena. Large, vibrant portraits of students, faculty and first responders (all in masks) hang from the rafters like championship banners, and a pair of rectangular awnings against the back wall emphasize the Northeastern reopening mantra: “Protect the Pack.” Though student reaction to reopening has been mixed, it’s hard to argue with the numbers a month after students returned to campus. While COVID-19 outbreaks continue to pop up at similar sized schools across the country, Northeastern avoided a similar fate so far, thanks in part to the rigorous testing regimen that is a lynchpin of the university’s ambitious reopening plan. Northeastern has administered over 176,000 tests since beginning testing on Aug. 17 and conducted an average of 5,522 tests per day since Sept. 1 — exceeding
the university’s initial aim of 5,000 per day — including over 6,000 tests conducted on eight days, according to university data. Test processing is split between the Northeastern Life Sciences Testing Center in Burlington, and the Broad Institute. “I’m very thankful that [Northeastern] has invested this much money into having an actual stateof-the-art testing center to keep everyone safe,” said Patrick Uglum, a first-year engineering and architectural studies major. The early results have been promising. Students account for 86 out of 94 positive tests, and a total of 48 on- and off-campus students have recovered. With a 7-day average positivity rate of 0.07 percent, the pie chart found on the university’s testing dashboard looks like nothing more than a blue circle. Northeastern’s testing protocols are ambitious not just for the volume, but also for the frequency. On Sept. 8, an email from Senior Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Madeleine Estabrook clarified that full-time undergraduate students, including those on co-op or living in off-campus residences close to campus, would have to undergo
testing every three days — even if they are opting to take all classes remotely. This has caused frustration for
some students, who say their lack of interaction with other Northeastern community members eliminates the need for rigorous testing. The split in
opinion looks to be largely between onand off-campus students, since those on campus have greater accessibility to TESTING, on Page 3
Photo by Samantha Barry Once a facility that housed varsity, club and intramural sports, Cabot Physical Education Center is now the home of a massive testing operation this semester.