“Safety first.”

It’s a phrase that means a lot these days, for obvious reasons. We have deliberated, researched, and made bold decisions to have students in class with every precaution needed to prevent the spread of the virus. By diligently masking, social distancing, handwashing, and isolating when needed, our whole academic community have made it possible for University of Nebraska to be the one school in the Big Ten holding 70% of its classes on campus. 

But creating a safe environment across all of our campuses goes beyond COVID-19. While we were all focused on the virus, a great deal of work was being done to address a different threat.

At my first Regent meeting, several young women spoke about their stress and anger with the university’s response to their reports of sexual misconduct.

To give you a bit of background, in previous years, students who filed sexual misconduct reports were provided assistance from an outside agency in Lincoln. But recently, the university decided to end its outside provider contract as the Center for Advocacy, Response and Education (CARE) was established. Their mission is “to improve and sustain a culture of health and wellness in relationships, and promote a commitment to the welfare of others, protection of rights and support all fundamental fairness and due process.”

That’s a mouthful, but each element is critical to fostering safe environments at the university.

Once CARE was up and running, the work began in earnest and an awareness campaign promoted resources, reporting, and a supportive campus climate. The “Use Your Voice” initiative was followed by a bystander intervention program, and a sexual misconduct resource website.

This was a decent start, but more needed to be done. 

In the Fall of 2019, the UNL Chancellor established a campus-wide Collaborative on Sexual Misconduct to examine the policies, procedures, and practices regarding and responding to sexual misconduct. There was a heavy focus on preventing sexual misconduct and meeting the needs of people who had experienced it.

Thus the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Collaborative on Sexual Misconduct Committee was born. It was comprised of 75 people from across all disciplines, departments, staff, undergraduate and graduate students.

But of course, just as they began their work on a report they hoped to deliver in August of 2020, the Department of Education in Washington DC released new guidelines for Title IX Regulations across the country.

You’ve probably heard about Title IX. You’ve likely seen plenty of headlines about it as well. I had also heard of Title IX for a number of years, but in studying this issue for UNL I learned some things I had not known. 

For example, I didn’t know that it was created to follow up with equal rights for women, and that the federal law was intended to create equal opportunities for students in schools and other educational programs that receive federal money. 

It was also designed to protect individuals from gender bias. As a result, it began to open the doors to women’s sports in schools across the country. The ultimate penalty for violations was withdrawal of any federal funding. So, pretty serious. Higher education and K-12 schools all learned to be clear about the guidelines that the Department of Education created to enforce Title IX. 

And as I was working on this blog, I read that the Bennington School District has just received notice of a Title IX lawsuit against them filed by parents of the female softball and basketball teams. 

Well, to bring us back to the University of Nebraska and the Sexual Misconduct Committee, The Department of Education issued a new set of guidelines that would go into effect August 14, 2020.  

So, now the Collaborative that had been at work since Fall 2019, they needed to integrate required changes from the federal government.

I’m not typically one for cliffhangers, but there are a number of layers in this discussion so this blog is going to be a two-parter. Now that we have a foundational understanding of where we’ve been with this issue, I look forward to exploring what we’ve achieved and where it is we’re headed… in the next blog.

*Barbara’s thoughts as written by Kate based on weekly (fascinating) conversations.

In this day and age there is no shortage of options in terms of how we can choose to spend our time. And I’ll be the first to admit being easily sucked into some sort of mindless distraction at the end of a long day.

But as the shape of our days continue to shift due to COVID-19, I have been looking for better ways to use the time at home created by the pandemic. 

Yes, there are plenty of items on my to-do list. Work is never in short supply and we’ve begun preparing for the holidays, but I need to satisfy my curiosity too. It’s not about having to do something, it’s about having the right variety of somethings to do.  

As the weather drives us increasingly inside, I recently checked out the University of Nebraska website to see what’s still available to us. It led me to all the events open to the whole community. As you might have guessed, one of my favorite series is the free “Curious People Series,” where UNO faculty speak about interesting topics specific to their lives, expertise, and fields of study.

Did I mention it’s free?

Previous topics have included: The Value of Play Across the Lifespan; My Life With Castro; Aging With Intention; Tell Me a Story, and many more.

I would highly encourage anyone interested in spending an hour in a more substantive (and intriguing) way to consider signing up for this speaker series. Check out the calendar, learn more about what’s on offer, and indulge your curiosity.

If you have any questions you can contact Robyn Loos at rloos@unomaha.edu or call her at 402-554-2173. And if the Curious Speakers Series isn’t your cup of tea, you can still use the UNO website to discover lecture series in different colleges, look up athletic schedules, find concerts, etc.

We may not be able to attend our favorite events in-person until this pandemic abates, but learning never has to stop. Our minds appreciate the exercise too.​

*Barbara’s thoughts as written by Kate based on weekly (fascinating) conversations.

While we’re at it, and in the spirit of Independence Day, I’d like to take a moment to celebrate that the Constitution and the fabric of this nation calls for an educated citizenry. When every person regardless of circumstance has access to quality education, we have healthier communities and a better society for all.

We need to take our country’s blueprint seriously.

This I can promise you – I take this role as Regent very seriously. I am proud to represent you in bringing inclusive, accessible and quality education across the state.

Thank you for believing in me, for believing in the promise of education and our community. Think about what we can achieve when we work together. There’s much to celebrate.

Have a safe, socially-distanced Fourth of July!

*Barbara’s thoughts as written by Kate based on weekly (fascinating) conversations.

Recently, a number of us gathered online for our 50th college reunion weekend. It was kind of surreal in a couple of ways. Not being in person and having a series of events on devices was one part of that, but the bigger part was a sense of déjà vu.

Fifty years ago, police shot students at Kent State. Our campus had closed down for ten days after that but had re-opened in time to allow us seniors to graduate. I remember feeling anxious at that point in time. We had gone through the draft lottery that spring, lots of unrests, and a lot of unknowns.

Starting to sound familiar?

Although there were all kinds of fun virtual events related to our reunion, I felt distracted. I kept seeing this cycle that comes down to this: we don’t seem to learn from previous experiences.

Yes, there has been progress and there have been some changes. But some of the changes were superficial. They weren’t the big, painful, necessary advancements that change people’s lives and hearts

We’ve seen generation after generation work to break down barriers around gay rights and gay marriage. While there’s still a way to go, I think part of that is coming to know people who identify as LGBTQIA and understanding them as friends, neighbors, family, and members of our community like anyone else.

But the deeply embedded institutional racism and sexism haven’t been touched really yet. We haven’t made systemic change.

That’s the change that’s both really painful and really necessary. While there are a lot of incredible people working to overhaul these systems, there are also lots of people who benefit from the current system and are invested in keeping it that way. We can’t let this opportunity for change pass us by.

I think people have been pointing out institutional problems along the way, but have we really listened? When we talk about having diverse campuses, for example, we are talking primarily about attending students. We’re not factoring in faculty, staff, and administrators.

Having a more diverse student population is important, but who they see as role models or people doing the work they want to do matters a great deal.

When I get that feeling of déjà vu, that feeling of “here we are again, how have we not come further,” I think about the youth who are refusing to stay silent. I hope there are enough younger people involved in this movement that when offers of superficial fixes come along, they won’t just sit down and say “we’ll settle for this.”

I still have my fingers crossed that big change will come. Hopefully soon.

*Barbara’s thoughts as written by Kate based on weekly (fascinating) conversations.