Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s sexual assault task force — called Virginia’s Campus Sexual Violence Task Force — convened for one of its last meetings Wednesday before it will give the governor its official recommendations surrounding sexual assault on college campuses across Virginia in June.
McAuliffe signed an executive order in August to combat sexual violence on college campuses in Virginia. The committee is divided into three subcommittees — prevention, response and law enforcement. The subcommittees have met six to seven times since the governor’s executive order was issued and the committee has convened three times.
Michael Kelley, communications director for Attorney General Mark Herring, said the task force — composed of police, education leaders, professionals and victims’ advocates — was created to examine the way Virginia responds to sexual assault and make changes to help keep students safe.
“The purpose is to investigate how Virginia works to prevent and respond to events on sexual violence on college campuses,” Kelley said. “To identify any changes in the law that should be made and find the best practices that are most needed to protect Virginia students.”
The state legislature already passed measures requiring mandatory reporting policies at public institutions and a note for leaving on account of conduct violation on student transcripts. The legislature is awaiting action by McAuliffe, who will sign the measures or provide amendments for review.
In addition to these topics, the task force also discussed a shared database between colleges and universities containing information on prior perpetrators of sexual violence and ways to increase awareness of the issue and thus improve the culture surrounding sexual violence.
Kelley said he has high hopes the task will continue its current progress.
“We’ve got folks that are committed to this issue,” Kelley said. “We think there is an opportunity for Virginia to be a national leader on this issue. The task force has been working to make sure that student will be able have the best experience possible at Virginia schools.”
University Deputy spokesperson Matthew Charles said the University will be making changes to the sexual assault policy, which he said will be released within the next few weeks.
“The University of Virginia has been in the process of revising our sexual misconduct policy since last year and hope to complete this important process within the next few weeks,” Charles said.
The University — along with McAuliffe, Attorney General Mark Herring, the presidents of all public four-year Virginia colleges and universities and the chancellor of the Virginia Community College System — signed a joint declaration to combat sexual harassment and sexual violence.
Rachel Thomas, McAuliffe’s press secretary, said the governor values the work the task force has done and will fully consider their recommendations.
“The governor commends the Task Force for their hard work in developing comprehensive recommendations on how to prevent, respond to and raise awareness about sexual assault on Virginia's college campuses,” Thomas said. “He will take their recommendations into full consideration.”
In his closing remarks, Herring, who is the chair of the task force, said he wanted the subcommittees to meet at least twice in the coming weeks and to present a draft of recommendations at the next meeting.
“We want to make sure the recommendations are harmonious with each other, with the goals and recommendations, with the different laws and regulations which you all know can be very complex,” Herring said.
The next task force meeting is set for late March.
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