Harvard College Appoints New Title IX Coordinator

Erin Clark will serve as the new Harvard College Title IX Coordinator, Dean of Students Katherine G. O’Dair announced in an email to students Friday afternoon.

“This role is a critically important part of our commitment to ensuring the safety and well-being of every single student, and we are delighted that Erin will bring her wealth of experience to our community,” O’Dair wrote.

Clark previously served as the director of Title IX coordination for the Chicago Public Schools, and was the Director of the Center for Awareness, Response, and Education at Northwestern University. She joins current College Title IX Coordinator Brian Libby.

In her new role, which she begins Oct. 2, Clark will work to address concerns of sexual harassment, make students aware of Title IX resources and ways to report potential violations, and help train staff in Title IX procedures, in collaboration with the University’s other Title IX administrators.

Clark wrote in an emailed statement that she looks forward to assuming her new role.

“I am honored to join the team at Harvard College to help foster a community where every student has access to the resources they need in order to be safe, healthy, and thrive both academically and socially,” she wrote.

The College first appointed a full-time Title IX Coordinator in May 2015. At the time, Harvard had recently become the subject of an investigation by the United States Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights for possible violation of federal anti-sex discrimination laws that is ongoing. Over the past several years, the College has introduced a number of initiatives aimed to reduce instances of sexual misconduct on campus. In fall 2018, 100 percent of College students completed a newly mandatory Title IX training program that had previously been optional.

—Staff writer Sanjana L. Narayanan can be reached at sanjana.narayanan@thecrimson.com.

—Staff writer Samuel W. Zwickel can be reached at samuel.zwickel@thecrimson.com. Follow him on Twitter @samuel_zwickel.