Many California college and university officials had reason to breathe a sigh of relief following the U.S. Department of Education's release of a list of 55 institutions under investigation for the possible mishandling of sexual assault and harassment complaints. Only four California schools made the list: UC Berkeley, University of Southern California, Occidental and Butte College.
While that inquiry continues in Washington, the California State Auditor has estimated that its own investigation into the handling of sexual violence and assault cases will be released in June 2014.
Acting in response to a legislative request initiated by Assemblyman Anthony Rendon (D-Lakewood), the Auditor outlined the scope of the assignment in August of last year. The focus is on two campuses of the University of California and two from the CSU.
According to the Daily Californian, the audit addresses a federal complaint filed by nine UC Berkeley students in May 2013, claiming that the campus mishandled and underreported cases of sexual assault.
In addition to Cal, the audit will review practices at UCLA, Cal State Chico and Cal State San Diego. According to the Huffington Post, no reason was given for the choice of the other institutions to be examined, but CSU Chico and San Diego are said to be known as "party schools."
