In light of the release of an investigative report documenting sexual misconduct and grooming behavior by Fr. Thomas King and Fr. David Porterfield — former rectors at Notre Dame — the University has implemented a new tracking and oversight policy for reports of sexual misconduct or violence against students.
The investigative report into abuse by King and Porterfield included a recommendation for the University to “enhance its policies and procedures.”
“[T]he University should establish and maintain a policy addressing how the University will handle reports that clergy and other persons at the University in positions of trust have committed sexual misconduct against a student,” the report stated.
The new policy, shared with the campus community in an email Thursday, is titled “Handling Reports of Sex-based Misconduct or Violence Against Students by Persons in Positions of Trust.” The three-page document outlines the expectations for the additional oversight of reports of sexual misconduct or violence made by students against a “University employee or other individual present in University facilities or programs in a role of authority, responsibility, or trust with respect to students.”
Reports can be submitted through the Office of Institutional Equity, Speak Up, the Integrity Line or, in active emergency situations, the Notre Dame Police Department.
Any report made by a University student against a non-student must be “referred promptly” to the vice president for student affairs, currently Fr. Gerry Olinger, and the vice president and general counsel, currently Brandon Roach.
After receiving a report, the vice president for student affairs and the general counsel are to gather a group of senior leaders at the University, including the vice president for human resources or the provost.
“This group of senior leaders, with the general counsel serving in an advisory capacity, will evaluate whether the report concerns conduct against an individual while a student by someone who, at the time of the alleged conduct, was in a Position of Trust,” the policy states.
If the general counsel finds the report concerns misconduct or abuse against a student by an individual in a position of trust, the general counsel will notify the University President, the chair of the Board of Trustees and any other separate organization the person in a position of trust is associated with, such as a Catholic diocese or religious order. The general counsel will notify these entities of the receipt of a report, provide appropriate updates and inform them of the investigation’s conclusions.
The general counsel will “exercise oversight of the handling of the report under the relevant Associated Policy (‘Covered Report’), regardless of whether the person is still employed by or affiliated with the University.”
Notably, the report into abuse by King found that Notre Dame referred the investigation into King to the Congregation of Holy Cross because King was no longer an employee of the University.
A spokesperson for the University confirmed in a written statement, “Priests and other religious who are employees of Notre Dame share the same classifications as lay employees, i.e. if a priest is employed in a faculty position they are designated as such, if they are in a staff role they are designated as such. As the policy states, employees and anyone else present in University facilities or programs in a role of authority, responsibility, or trust with respect to students are in a position of trust. Priests and other religious who are not otherwise employees of the University may still qualify, and that determination will be confirmed in each case under the process described in the policy.”
The spokesperson continued, “With respect to Title IX policies, an individual’s status as a priest or other religious is not relevant to the administration of the policies.”
