Title IX History & Sports: Title IX Probe, 'Sexual Violence Investigations' Announced at 55 Colleges; Harvard, Dartmouth & Princeton Included

By Jessica Herring May 02 2014, 10:05 AM EDT

The Department of Education released a list on Thursday of 55 colleges that are currently undergoing open "sexual violence investigations."

The list showcases the Obama Administration's focus on bringing the issue of sexual assault on college campuses to the forefront in light of recent revelations concerning how colleges handle rape allegations.

On Thursday, a White House task force also released a report aimed at helping colleges prevent sexual assault, The Washington Post reports.

Three Ivy League universities are under Title IX investigations: Harvard University (its college and its law school), Dartmouth College and Princeton University. Other prestigious institutions such as Emory University, Amherst, Swarthmore and the University of Southern California are also on the list.

Four other schools are on the list from Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia: Frostburg State University, Catholic University of America, the College of William and Mary, and the University of Virginia.

The state department's Office for Civil Rights is examining complaints it received from individuals on campuses, as well as those it received as part of its efforts to see if schools are complying with Title IX, which precludes discrimination on the basis of gender for schools that receive federal funding.

It is the first time there will be a comprehensive investigation of campuses that are under review for possible violations of the law's requirement of how to handle sexual violence.

"We hope this increased transparency will spur community dialogue about this important issue," said Catherine E. Lhamon, assistant secretary for civil rights. "I also want to make it clear that a college or university's appearance on this list and being the subject of a Title IX investigation in no way indicates at this stage that the college or university is violating or has violated the law."

Some universities released details about the upcoming investigations.

Victor Nakas, a spokesman for Catholic University, said the university learned in January that one student filed a Title IX complaint.

"The complaint concerned the investigation and adjudication of a report of sexual assault that occurred in December 2012," Nakas said. He said Catholic University is cooperating fully and is "confident that there will be a just resolution of this matter."

A spokesperson from Frostburg State also said that a federal investigation is underway due to an assault case that occurred off campus in 2013.

William and Mary spokesman Brian Whitson said he will not provide details about the case, but made it clear that the college is focused on the issue of sexual assault.

"But in general, I can tell you sexual assault response and education is an area we are very focused on," Whitson said. "We continually look at our own practices to determine if they can be improved or enhanced. Since this is a broad review of our policies and practices by OCR, the result may well provide us valuable information as we continue to look at new ways to address an issue that confronts every university in the country."

The University of Virginia said it has been working with the Office for Civil Rights since 2011 to review "policies and systems in the area of Title IX/sexual misconduct." The university noted it hosted a national conference about sexual assault policies in February.

"The conference included candid discussion among college and university presidents, students, survivors of sexual misconduct, student affairs professionals, legal and sexual violence experts," a university spokesperson said.

As of May 1, the list of schools under open investigation are as follows: