Activists who have been fighting for such disclosures hailed the action.
“It’s a huge deal,” said Caroline Heldman, chair of Occidental College’s politics department who helped file complaints against the campus. “It will inspire more survivor activists to file complaints when they see schools of every stripe in every part of the country have this problem.”
Most of the 55 investigations were sparked by complaints filed by student activists. However, 10 were compliance reviews initiated by the federal government based on statistics, news reports and information from parents and advocates, according to Dorie Nolt, a Department of Education spokeswoman.