Sen. Beth Mizell (R) District 12
Governor Edwards has signed into law legislation providing more oversight for Title IX Offices on college campuses. Franklinton Senator Beth Mizell’s legislation closes loopholes found in previous campus safety policies and now allows for employees who fail to report sexual misconduct to be terminated.
“The administration has the power to terminate anybody that is not following through the processes. That was something that has not been in policy in the past, and we wanted to make sure that option was available,” said Mizell.
The law also calls for new training requirements and details when employees must report complaints or incidents they witness. It also bans retaliation against those who report allegations and requires detailed published reports from campuses on how they handle Title IX complaints.
“People who walk our campuses deserve that, they need to know that people are watching closely,” said Mizell.
Mizell said the passage of the unanimous legislation proves that lawmakers are gravely concerned about the safety of students on college campuses and wanted to enforce changes as soon as possible, especially after the LSU Title IX scandal.
“This was way beyond Women’s Caucus or women legislators, everybody in that building wants to see this figured out and done in a way that we can be proud of,” said Mizell.
Female lawmakers held hours of hearings to go through the Husch Blackwell report of LSU’s violations and heard from students who said their abuse went unaddressed. Mizell said it was testimony from those students who helped detail the legislation.
Comments