Professors worry mandatory reporting will keep students quiet about sexual harassment, assault

Michael Williams wants his young college students to feel they can come to him for help.

He’s eager to guide them with an assignment or offer a sympathetic ear when things go sour in their personal lives.

But if they confide something to the University of Kansas journalism professor about sexual harassment or worse …

“I have said to the student, ‘I’m really sorry this happened, but if you tell me more details, I have to report this’ ” to others on campus, said Williams, president of KU’s University Senate. “Sometimes, the student goes ahead and tells you everything anyway. They’re seeking an adult they can trust. …

“But I’ve had students say, ‘I don’t want any one else to know.’ They don’t tell you anything more. That’s when the situation gets a little gray.”

And, say faculty from Manhattan to Columbia, a student who can’t tell a professor something in confidence might not tell anybody.

Source: Professors worry mandatory reporting will keep students quiet about sexual harassment, assault | The Kansas City Star