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In the wake of University of Iowa President Sally Mason’s firings of two officials, former UI vice presidents Phillip Jones and Marcus Mills, over their handling of an alleged sexual assault case last year, the Iowa state Board of Regents stood by the embattled first-year president while calling for increased accountability.
“As we all know, this has not been a perfect year. The university failed in its handling of this sexual assault and, for that, President Mason bears responsibility,” Regent President David Miles said at a special meeting called by the Iowa state Board of Regents in West Des Moines Thursday. “We urge the public to take from this number a message of accountability for results,” Miles said. “This is not meant to convey dissatisfaction or a limited future for this president,” the Iowa City Press-Citizen reported.
The regents scheduled the meeting to act on the Stolar group’s report about the UI’s handling of a sexual assault case, to conclude Mason’s first-year performance review and to move forward on new policies.
The Regents had hired the St. Louis law firm, the Stolar Partnership, to conduct an independent review of the UI’s response to the alleged sexual assault that took place on campus at the Hillcrest Residence Hall on Oct. 14, 2007. The review found “numerous and substantial flaws in not only the response of the University of Iowa to the alleged sexual assault at issue, but also in its policies, procedures and practices regarding the same.”
Mason’s review had been previously postponed by the regents, thus providing more time for the Stolar group to complete its investigation and present its findings to the board.
Although the regents were satisfied with Mason’s response to her role in the handling of the investigation of the sexual assault, they denied her a raise for this school year, leaving her base pay at $450,000. However, Mason’s salary could see a $50,000 to $80,000 boost this year from performance-based incentives — although the details outlining performance benchmarks have yet to be ironed out.
The meeting provided Mason with an opportunity to publicly respond to the Stolar report, which was released six days ago. “Failing a student who asks for our help is unacceptable. Failing to be transparent and accountable to the Board of Regents, and, ultimately, the people of Iowa, is unacceptable,” Mason said. “Our students and their parents expect more of us. The university community as a whole expects more of us. The citizens of Iowa expect more of us. I expect more of us.
“I offer my apologies to the young woman involved in this case, to her parents, to our community, to our board, and to the citizens of Iowa.”
Although the trial for Cedric Everson and Abeberell Satterfield, the two UI football players charged with second-degree sexual abuse, has yet to begin, Thursday’s meeting indicated the regents and the UI are looking to the future. Mason not only responded to the Stolar report’s findings, but provided specifics on how to address the current system’s failings regarding sexual assault and harassment as well.
Miles echoed Mason’s call for significant change, the Press-Citizen reported. “It is apparent that our current policies are fatally flawed. That we can and will address,” Miles said. “The more significant failings, it seems to me … (are) the failure to place the needs of this student paramount, before rote adherence to policies, before disputes over turf, before the understandable fears of repeating the mistakes of the past, before petty irritations with the alleged victim herself.
“Our policies must change, but even more so, we must provide leadership from the top down, and from the bottom up, so that when a student needs our help, we will be there — consistently, reliably and actively to support him or her.”
Moreover, Mason initiated the healing process at home by releasing the following public statement to the UI Community Thursday:
This has been a difficult week for us all. I made some agonizing decisions in the past few days, and I know those decisions have affected people’s lives. I made those decisions, however, because I lost trust in the judgment of senior staff on whom I depend as I lead this University. At the Board of Regents meeting this morning, I apologized for our failures of process and compassion to the young woman involved in the alleged sexual assault case, to her parents, to our community, to our Board, and to the citizens of Iowa. I also assured our Board that we were moving forward swiftly and decisively in doing what we need to do to restore the faith of the people of Iowa in our institution, to create a culture of respect on our campus, and to make changes that will ensure we handle sexual assault situations with the utmost clarity, integrity, and compassion. I reiterate that apology and those assurances to you, our University community, now.
At the same time, I want you to know that I have the fullest confidence in and utmost admiration for this University community. We have thousands of talented faculty, staff, and students on this campus, and I fully support you in your pursuits and the integrity that you show every day. The University of Iowa is strong because of strong people who achieve excellence with pride and honor. We do have much work to do in restoring the public’s trust in this institution, but the foundation of that trust is your exemplary work. I have the highest faith in this University, its people, and our ability to move forward.
And that is exactly what we must all do now—look forward to what we can and will accomplish. My immediate tasks are in rebuilding. As I focus on rebuilding our policies and procedures on sexual assault that must be models of responsibility, clarity, and integrity, I also join you in continuing to rebuild our campus in the wake of the flood. In both cases, we will come out stronger than we ever have been. I also continue to work on rebuilding our University leadership team. In all of our executive searches—new ones and those that are continuing—we will recruit leaders who know and understand the best practices in their areas of expertise, and who will bring new energy and vision to our University.
We also look forward to many exciting innovations ahead of us in teaching and learning, research and creative endeavor, and service. We have a new strategic planning process and a new capital campaign on the horizon to advance our continuous renewal. We must also continue to dream, to envision our future boldly, to be the best University we can be. This incredible institution has led the world in astonishing ways, and we will not lose sight of our ever-expanding possibilities. Our state and nation place an enormous amount of trust in our educational and research leadership and service. Fulfilling that trust with excellence and integrity is my strongest commitment, and I know it is yours, too.
Sally Mason
President
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