A message from Dean Bautista: We Hear You - Next Steps

Dear Skidmore Students,

The gathering outside of Case this week was a powerful moment organized by your peersto express frustration, outrage, and concerns about issues of sexual and gender-based misconduct (SGBM) on our campus and in our society. I have also followed the concerns you are sharing on social media. I hear and share these concerns and am committed toworking with you to do all we can to make Skidmore a safer, more caring and justice-oriented campus. 

I have read, with great sadness and alarm, concerns from students who have experienced SGBM but are reluctant to report their experiences to the College because of fear of retaliation. I want to better understand your experiences. Most immediately, I want to encourage our students to contact the Title IX office to seek supportive measures and resources and to give the College the opportunity to investigate SGBM or retaliation and take action in response. I want to be clear – retaliation is prohibited under College policy and federal law.

At the same time, we recognize that Skidmore can do better in its support of Title IX and our students in these very difficult experiences. I am eager to lead the College’s efforts to confront SGBM and to better meet the needs of our students. I hope we can partner and collaborate so that together we can move toward the community of trust we want to achieve. To begin this phase of work and trust-building, we are taking these initial steps:

Individual Listening Hours

I want to give our students every opportunity to share with me their perspectives and concerns in the area of SGBM issues. Over the next four weeks, I will hold listening sessions that students may sign up for, to share with me what they think I need to know about these issues on our campus. These meetings are intended to specifically hear from students interested in discussing, sharing concerns, or offering ideas about our campus climate. To sign up, please contact Lynn DiMenna.

We Hear You Sessions

Tuesday night’s Title IX information session was intended to be the first in a series of listening and informational activities. I have begun reaching out to student leaders to determine how we can work together to construct and offer a forum series that considers SGBM through the lens of diversity, equity, and inclusivity. More details will be shared next week.

Student efforts this semester to convey concerns with SGBM and transphobia demonstrate the overall importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion work here at Skidmore. Culture change, power structures, and reporting and accountability are essential components to an inclusive and equitable climate. We will need all Skidmore voices to create the type of transformation we all seek. 

Utilizing External Expertise

Skidmore has begun to partner with nationally recognized experts from Cozen O’Connor’s Institutional Response Group. Led by Gina Maiston Smith and Leslie Gomez, their work focuses on helping to prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based harassment and violence, and other forms of harassment, discrimination, and criminal conduct. 

Gina and Leslie, both former career sexual violence prosecutors, help colleges and universities integrate legally required policies and procedures with trauma-informed, compassionate, and supportive practices under Title IX, the Clery Act, and state law. We are confident they can help us improve our own processes and structures.

Enhanced Community Partnering

We have heard concerns about the need for greater awareness of SGBM and increasedsensitivity around these issues among the greater Skidmore community. To achieve these goals, we will work to partner more closely with Wellspring, a domestic violence and sexual assault service resource in Saratoga County.

We are also working with Wellspring to offer an educational session for campus administrative leaders in early November. The session will be led by a guest from Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP), one of the longest-running and most widely influential gender violence prevention programs in North America.

I joined the Skidmore community two months ago, eager to have the opportunity to work with students who are committed to impacting our campus and the world. We have heard you, and it is my firm belief that we should never be afraid to ask hard questions – and demand informed answers – about how we can transform our SGBM policies and practices through strong student, faculty, staff, and community communication and collaboration. I look forward to hearing from and working with you to achieve these goals.

Respectfully,

Adrian Bautista, Ph.D.
Dean of Students and Vice President for Student Affairs