We spoke to Aishah Casseus, Florida State’s new Title IX investigator
Her appointment has sparked campus conversation
Florida State has announced they appointed a new Title IX investigator, Aishah Casseus.
This comes four months after the university’s violation of Title IX, in which they released over 1600 emails detailing incidents including sexual harassment to all parties involved, including the accuser.
The Tab Florida State spoke to the Title IX office about this new appointment, and they offered insight as to why the new appointment was necessary and how it will affect the future operations of the department.
Jennifer Broomfield, the Florida State Title IX director, said: “Prior to Aishah coming, I investigated all of the acts of sexual misconduct alleged to have been committed against students and our human resources department investigated any acts allegedly committed by faculty, staff, or visitors.
“By having Aishah here as a full time investigator, that frees up a great deal of my time. I’ll still be doing investigations but I can also broaden our education and compliance efforts, do more face to face training with faculty staff and students so they’re aware of what title IX is, how to make a report, what happens after you make a report, what the process is like and what other resources are available.”
Broomfield says the new position won’t change the way the office operates “so much as it will enhance it.” Casseus also said that because Title IX is gaining notoriety around the country, people are learning more about it and opting to expand their staff to be more accessible and available to the student body.
“With FSU being as large as it is, having an investigator will actually be very helpful.”
The office denies that this is in any way a response to the email incident in March, but students are still skeptical about the operations of the university.
Babar Ahmed, a rising sophomore at FSU, said: “Honestly, it’s not going to change much. I mean, I hope it does but the reality is we still have a long way to go and adding an investigator is a small step in that direction.”
Sophomore Esteban Cabrera felt a similar way.
He said: “Time will tell if this is just for looks or if it will bring actual change. The real test will be when a highly touted athlete is involved and whether the person is reprimanded.”
Christian Adeleke, 20, said: “It’s a step in the right direction. Sexual violence at FSU is a huge issue, and the administrators need to do everything within their power to let students know that the university will not continue to tolerate it. It’s going to take more than just a hashtag.”
The Title IX office has their work cut out for them, as they are in the midst of a discrimination lawsuit filed against the university last week. This will test Casseus’ ability to do her job and the results will indicate whether or not the expansion of this office was effective or useless.