Title IX Coordinator Howard Kallem leaving

Less than a year after joining UNC as Title IX coordinator, Howard Kallem is leaving for a similar position at Duke University.

“Duke presented me with a good opportunity, and at the stage of my career I’m in, I felt that it was too good to pass up,” Kallem said in an email.

Title IX coordinators are responsible for managing a university’s compliance with Title IX, a federal law that makes any sex-based discrimination or harassment against students illegal.

Outgoing Director of the Carolina Women’s Center Christi Hurt, who served as Interim Title IX Coordinator before Kallem took the position, said UNC was lucky to have Kallem.

“We have absolutely benefited from (Kallem’s) expertise as somebody who knows federal law and who has the extraordinary capacity to write policy language,” she said.

Kallem will be replaced in the interim by Katie Nolan, who previously worked as the Title IX coordinator at the University of Alabama.

UNC is in the midst of three federal investigations into alleged mishandling of sexual assault cases.

UNC graduate Andrea Pino, who co-filed one of the federal complaints against UNC in 2012, said UNC’s system for handling sexual assault has not improved much since she filed her complaint.

“It’s very naive to think a person like Howard could come in and fix everything (on his own),” she said. “It’s very challenging to come to a system that’s broken.”

Pino said the recent media criticism of the University of Virginia’s handling of sexual assault cases — including an alleged gang rape in 2012 — is the type of attention likely to soon swing back towards UNC.

She said the many stakeholders at UNC make reform tough, but the Title IX coordinator can influence campus culture in a way that makes sexual assault more likely to be reported and less likely to happen.

“If UNC gets hit with (negative media) attention again, it’ll be 20 times bigger,” Pino said. “Unless UNC wants to become the next Columbia mattress controversy or the next UVa., some things need to change.”

Maddy Frumkin, co-chairwoman of Project Dinah — a student organization that advocates for survivors of sexual assault — said she has been impressed with the Title IX Office’s work this year, in particular with the new sexual assault policy that was published in August.

She said she is disappointed Kallem is leaving so soon.

“It is disappointing in the fact that the policy is not just a written policy, it’s also a policy in how it’s carried out,” Frumkin said. “But I am sure there are other people who were involved in making the policy who will be here to make sure it has its intended effects.”

Hurt said the large number of administrators at UNC is an advantage for the handling of Title IX issues, and she is confident in Nolan’s capacity to fill Kallem’s shoes.

“She also of course has a great understanding of the Carolina community because she’s from the Carolina community. I think in her own way she’ll be able to occupy that space ... and move us forward.”

Felicia Washington, vice chancellor for workforce strategy, equity and engagement, said in an email that the University will be searching for a Title IX compliance coordinator next calendar year.

university@dailytarheel.com