LSU’s Title IX office chose not to renew its comprehensive contract with Sexual Trauma and Awareness Response, the organization that helped LSU restructure the Title IX office following the uncovering of the university’s sexual assault case mishandlings in 2020, into the 2022 school year.

STAR, a Baton-Rouge nonprofit, started their contract with LSU in May 2021 during efforts to rebuild the Office following a USA Today investigative report in November 2020 detailing how the university ignored sexual assault allegations on campus. 

STAR was notified in late July that the contract, which included trainings from STAR about sexual assault and harassment to campus organizations and faculty, would not be renewed.

Jane Cassidy, former vice president of Diversity and Title IX Jane Cassidy described STAR’s help during the office’s rebuilding as “amazing.” Cassidy served the position from March 2021 to August 2022 after helping hire a full staff in the department, fulfilling a recommendation from a report by Husch Blackwell, the law firm that the university hired to review its Title IX policies and procedures.

“STAR was our savior,” Cassidy said. “We had the contract with them. They came in, taught us, trained us as we hired people. They provided all of our training. They were our go-to people.”

After the university hired 12 staff members in its Title IX department, Cassidy noticed the hiring of Title IX-specialized faculty in other departments like the Lighthouse Program, which provides free and confidential violence prevention, support and advocacy to LSU, as well as the Athletics Department. 

An additional 30 to 40 people were now investing in improving the university’s handling of Title IX across campus, she said.

“Because the university has now invested, if you include what athletics have spent, almost $3 million in setting up this office, the expectation is that we should be able to do this on our own,” Cassidy said.

The nonrenewal of the contract with STAR had nothing to do with the effectiveness of their training, Cassidy said. According to her, it was time for the full staff to start standing on their own feet. 

Despite not renewing the broad contract, the department still plans to receive some training from STAR where it is deemed necessary, Cassidy said.

President and CEO Racheal Hebert said STAR developed a great partnership with LSU over the past 18 months. While she was hoping to carry on that partnership through this year, she recognizes that due to new leadership at LSU, the university’s Title IX department no longer wants to continue the partnership.

“I’m disappointed, but hopefully…our work that we’ve done can continue,” Hebert said.

STAR is an outside voice for students, faculty and staff and a beneficial way to improve safety and better support for survivors, creating a campus culture preventing sexual assault, Hebert said. She believes there is a culture on campuses of normalizing and condoning sexual harassment.

LSU has seen a lot of growth since entering into a contract with STAR, Hebert said, believing STAR has helped show LSU faculty and staff the prominence and extent of sexual harassment on a campus and how to give back and become further involved.

“Awareness of the issue has had the biggest impact,” Hebert said.

Despite the improvements she has seen, Hebert said it may be difficult for the Title IX Office to reach out to all of the students on campus that may need their help. This, she explained, was why STAR was so effective in the LSU community and was able to expand that reach.

“It takes a community,” Hebert said. “Not one office, not one person.”

Hebert and the rest of STAR are happy to work with any offices or departments that would seek out training or coaching on how to best support survivors, she said. The organization continues to see many LSU students through their services including sexual assault counseling, a sexual trauma hotline, advocacy and legal representation. 

Since newly hired vice president of Inclusion, Civil Rights and Title IX Todd Manuel arrived at LSU in August, he said that the department will continue to assess where improvements can be made.

“In areas where we’ve built internal capability, we’ll utilize our own people, our own resources,” Manuel said. “But in the areas where we may have gaps that need to be filled in, we’ll utilize STAR to do that.”

Manuel plans to implement resources like peer-to-peer networking to help get students involved in the reporting process to help guide faculty and students in processing issues related to Title IX. 

Religious studies and history junior Lauren Pete, the outreach chair at Feminists in Action, said the organization is not happy with LSU’s decision to not renew their contract with STAR. Pete and the rest of FIA liked STAR’s presence on campus because of its local origin and obligation to serve the people of Baton Rouge, especially LSU students.

“One of the great things about STAR, with it being a third party and not having any bias with the university, is that they serve the local community,” Pete said.

FIA will continue to host the Title IX round table, an event where students meet with Title IX staff and provide feedback, ask questions and hold the department accountable. Pete said FIA also continues to plan setting appointments with Title IX staff to ensure promises are being fulfilled to the student body.

“For the people who…are learning about this, they need to tell everyone they know, and they need to make a big deal out of it because it’s a big deal,” Pete said. “Whether or not it personally affects you, it most likely affects someone you know or care about.”

Sociology senior Emily Hebert, vice president of LSU’s Tigers Against Sexual Assault, is also disappointed with LSU’s nonrenewal of the contract. She personally feels that LSU may have pushed STAR off to the side.

“I find it a little unnerving because STAR is an institution that provides their time specifically to situations like that, as in trauma response, and especially with sexual assault,” Emily Hebert said.

After speaking about the news at a TASA meeting on Sept. 8, she noticed many members concerned and uncomfortable with the change, raising more questions about the Title IX department’s future than answers.

TASA is a place where students can find resources to the questions they want answered, Emily Hebert said, hoping the new Title IX staff brings positivity and provides a new, clean slate with good intentions. 

“I hope that when they say they want to listen to students, they actually do,” she said.