Montana State University is under investigation by the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights for discrimination. (Keila Szpaller/The Daily Montanan)
I spent three years working at MSU’s VOICE Center – the only confidential and 24/7 office on campus that supported survivors of sexual violence, relationship violence and stalking – and I have immense concerns with MSU’s decision to quietly eliminate this essential resource.
At the beginning of July, Montana State University announced that during the course of the summer, The VOICE Center and the Office of Institutional Equity (OIE) would combine to become the Campus Civil Rights Office (CCR). OIE was a Title IX office that investigated reports of discrimination, harassment and sexual violence. MSU’s administration has framed this transition as a benefit to civil rights, however, breaking down this change reveals that MSU is simply rebranding OIE to Campus Civil Rights and dissolving The VOICE Center. By transitioning all services to Campus Civil Rights, survivors of sexual violence no longer have access to essential confidential support and resources because this Civil Rights office operates within Title IX, just as OIE did, and is therefore unable to be confidential. The silent removal of The VOICE Center is a disservice to survivors and demonstrates MSU’s inability to listen to students at a time when the university is already under numerous civil rights investigations.
The core of The VOICE Center was confidentiality, and without confidential services within CCR, many survivors will not feel comfortable coming forward and seeking support. While hurting survivors, this could further benefit MSU if the university falsely correlates fewer students seeking support with a decrease in the occurrence of sexual violence on campus. In practice, the loss of The VOICE Center will likely lead to an increased caseload for confidential resources for survivors within the Bozeman community such as Haven and The Help Center. For instance, without The VOICE Center, all hospital calls from MSU students seeking support from a trained advocate during Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (SANE) exams are now the responsibility of The Help Center and Haven.
VOICE Center advocates and certain staff positions are being moved over to CCR. However, these advocates who trained to work with survivors are now being reassigned to different roles within CCR. This could force advocates into new roles that provide support to offenders of interpersonal violence, as part of CCR’s Title IX requirements is to provide information to accused perpetrators. Safety and confidentiality were The VOICE Center’s greatest assets for survivors, but combining resources for sexual violence survivors and offenders into the same office will almost certainly leave survivors feeling unsafe and distrustful of CCR.
MSU chose to push forward with this Civil Rights office even after VOICE Center advocates expressed concerns with this change. Additionally, MSU claims that the switch to CCR is in response to student leaders’ requests for centralized services. However, when speaking with an involved student leader, they insist that MSU is misrepresenting their words. Student requests included broadening The VOICE Center, which was viewed as a supportive resource and one that was best kept separate from OIE, an office that often let students down. This is showcased with the multiple federal investigations against the university related to alleged civil rights violations. Rather than meaningfully addressing the requests and complaints, MSU rebranded OIE to Campus Civil Rights and effectively dismantled The VOICE Center, one of the few campus resources that students felt safe with.
It remains to be seen whether this new office improves MSU’s responses to civil rights cases, but it is clear that this change creates more barriers for survivors of sexual violence to access support and obtain the resources they need to heal. I have spent many hours supporting survivors at The VOICE Center’s office, over its support line, and in hospital visits. It is clear that students utilized and trusted this resource. For MSU to dismantle The VOICE Center, sweep the implications under the rug, and then say it is what students asked for is extremely concerning to me, and should be a concern for anyone who cares about students.
If you or someone you know have been affected by interpersonal violence, there are confidential options available to you. The Help Center and Haven are confidential community resources in Bozeman with 24/7 support lines for survivors of sexual violence. If you are a student looking to get involved at MSU, Students Against Sexual Assault (SASA) is a club on campus that works to bring recognition to these issues.
Grace Zabrocki was a Survivor Advocate at The VOICE Center for three years while attending Montana State University (Bozeman).