Rachel Roth Sawatzky took over the position of Title IX Coordinator immediately following an email sent from the President’s Office on Thursday, Jan. 10. In light of this change, Roth Sawatsky had to hand off two of her largest on-campus roles. Student Worker Supervisor of Common Grounds was taken over by Carissa Luginbill, who is also Lead Residence Director; planning of student programs on campus was taken over by Tyler Goss, Staff Associate of Student Programs.
Former Title IX Coordinator, Irene Kniss, explained the reason for her resignation from this role by saying a “change in staffing in Health Services at the beginning of the 2018 Fall Semester was an impetus in my reconsideration of my role as Title IX Coordinator.”
She felt that she was unable to give the required attention to her role as Title IX Coordinator while also filling the role of Director of Health Services. She further stated, “Health care remains my first passion, I am delighted to be able to return to a single focus as Director of Health Services.”
Kniss offered this piece of advice to Roth Sawatzky as she continues working in her new role: “Stay informed; be an educator first, then a compliance officer.”
Roth Sawatzky expressed her interest in stepping into this role, saying, “[I] enjoy connecting with students in their times of greatest need, wherever they are in a situation.”
She wants to walk alongside individuals in these times of “fear, confusion, and anxiety,” in the hopes of helping students enter into a time of “deep learning [and] returning to wholeness.”
After taking on her new role, Sawatzky condensed the Title IX Policy and the Relationship Violence and Sexual Misconduct (RVSM) Policy to make them easier to navigate. Sawatzky explained the difference between these two policies by saying that Title IX is, “focused on issues that prevent
from accessing their education [that are] persistent, pervasive or severe.”
Meanwhile, the RVSM Policy addresses, “issues that don’t fit the narrow definition of Title IX,” but that still cause harm to the person(s) involved in an incident. Sawatzky also added definitions of key terms within the policies and updated the contact information of those who should be contacted about incidences of Title IX and RVSM.
Operational changes were made in relation to the handling of Title IX and RVSM cases as well. It was important to Sawatzky and Jon Swartz, Associate Dean of Student, that cases of misconduct and Title IX be processed separately to provide those involved due process.
Now, when reports are made, Sawatzky does not get any reports of misconduct on campus, and Swartz does not get any reports of Title IX or RVSM. As Sawatzky states, “there truly is confidentiality… when you make a report.” Junior Lydia Chappell Deckert, who has worked closely with Sawatzky commented on her ability as a manager stating, “I learned so much from Rachel. She coached me through several hiring processes for Common Grounds and taught me how, to the best of my ability, make some pretty hard choices as an operations manager.
“I think that she will be an amazing Title IX coordinator. She has a heart and an eye for justice and knows how to get things done. Rachel is incredibly knowledgeable about the inner-workings of higher education policy and also knows how to sit down and have difficult, emotional conversations with students.”
Sawatzky wants the EMU community to know that her, “door is always open… [and] except for very rare cases, the people who are impacted by sexual violence… are able to drive the process,” of resolving the incident in which they are involved.
If you have any questions for Sawatzky, or just want to stop by to discuss Title IX and/or RVSM, see Sawatzky’s Letter on page 7 for days and times when she will be available in the upcoming weeks.
