Aside from more investigators, the OIE’s new leadership comes with experience in the field of sexual misconduct and discrimination prevention.

A director with federal experience

Durojaiye is no rookie in the field of sexual misconduct and discrimination prevention.

Durojaiye served as an attorney in the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights — the same office that investigated how MSU handled sexual misconduct cases.

Following his position in the federal government and prior to his hiring at MSU, Durojaiye served as the executive director of equity, inclusion and compliance at Florida Atlantic University, experience he said will surely help him in his new role.

“I would say, I think my perspective is unique,” Durojaiye said. “Having worked at the federal level and being able to work with hundreds of universities, from what I’ve seen, MSU is taking the right steps to address this issue.”

Durojaiye said MSU’s decision to hire more investigators inherently speeds up the process and helps to keep MSU in compliance with federal guidelines while still producing fair outcomes.

“We shouldn’t have any situations anymore where someone says, ‘I didn’t hear from anybody for four months and I don’t know what’s going on with my case,’” he said. “We are routinely keeping up with these people, calling them and meeting with them so they know we will be here at all times.”

Durojaiye said the issue of sexual assault on campuses cannot be solved overnight, and he and his office plan to continuously hold forums and open discussions with students in order to have the best information on how to improve investigations and restore students’ confidence that if they have an issue, their university can help them.

“Creating offices like this, hiring people who are knowledgeable in the area and staying vigilant in training and outreach, that’s how we resolve this issue,” Durojaiye said.

The new coordinator

Jessica Norris is MSU’s new Title IX coordinator, replacing Paulette Granberry Russell, who served as Title IX coordinator under the Office for Inclusion and Intercultural Initiatives. Norris previously worked at Illinois State University in the Office of Equal Opportunity, Ethics and Access for eight years, serving most recently as associate director. She also worked as the deputy Title IX coordinator and affirmative action officer.

At Illinois State, Norris spearheaded the creation of its Title IX program — an experience she said is vital to her success as MSU’s new Title IX coordinator.

“I was involved from the ground up in building the program and helping it grow and evolve since 2011,” Norris said. “We had a strong program in place, so I felt like I could bring what I had learned there and bring it here.”

Norris said the biggest key in combating sexual assault and harassment at MSU is collaborating with the myriad entities and resources MSU provides, such as the MSU Counseling Center, the Sexual Assault Program, local police and MSU police.

Norris said the issue of sexual assault is an issue on college campuses across the nation and said she draws similarities between the civil rights movement and the current movement to end sexual assault and harassment on college campuses.

“I think it’s a national issue and I see it being similar to the civil rights movement because it had its roots on college campuses in informed and engaged young people, which is something I see happening with sexual assault,” Norris said.

Former assistant prosecutor turned investigator

Debra Rousseau Martinez is one of three senior institutional equity investigators with the OIE who meet directly with students and faculty who have encountered discrimination, sexual misconduct or relationship violence.

Before taking her new position at MSU, Martinez worked in the Ingham County Prosecutor’s Office as the Special Victims Unit chief, specializing in sexual assault and child abuse cases.

Martinez said the people MSU hired to lead the new OIE, such as Norris and Durojaiye, have convinced her that MSU is trying to do the right thing to address their issues in handling sexual misconduct cases and were a main reason for her taking the new position.

“I think what is incredible, and one of the reasons I wanted to come over, was the leadership that MSU hired,” Martinez said. “They’re young. They get it. They’re approachable and they understand the systems and have open-door policies for people in the community.”

Martinez said the media attention MSU garnered for its mishandling of sexual misconduct cases motivated her to excel in her new role and to help fix what might have been broken before the creation of the OIE.

“I think it’s the obligation of the university to rise to that challenge and say, ‘we can do better,’” she said. “You can’t make change unless someone brings a voice to say things can be better, and that’s what all the attention did.”

Education is key to preventing sexual misconduct, Martinez said. She alluded to a town hall held earlier this month to gather input from MSU community members in which one of the main ideas was to continually educate students throughout their college careers about MSU’s policies and ways to prevent sexual misconduct and discrimination.

“I think that when you come in as a freshman you’re being inundated with so many things. I think sexual assault gets lost,” Martinez said. “I think a refresher every year or so would help.”

Aside from educating students, Martinez said she wants to work to address the issue of under-reporting by instilling confidence in students and faculty in the OIE.

Moving forward

As MSU works to address its policies and procedures for handling sexual misconduct and discrimination cases, the OIE is its first line of action. The leaders within the office are the people tasked with staying connected with students and all the stakeholders to ensure their recommendations for improvement reflect their needs.

Moving forward, the OIE will be holding focus groups with student organizations and other entities on campus to gather information on how best to improve their processes and procedures.