Van Williamson
Creating a Title IX system that can stand on its own, offering training for faculty, staff and students, as well as being fair and objective in investigations were among the qualities that Van Williamson spoke about last Friday during the presentation portion of his Title IX Coordinator interview.
Williamson was a Seabrook, Texas based lawyer who went into law after a career in data networking. He said he has experience with compliance issues in human resources and served on several university Title IX focus groups.
An effective Title IX program has to be able to stand on its own merit, and different processes need to be considered, Williamson said.
“The idea of justice doesn’t show up in the verdict, it shows up in the process,” Williamson said. “You have a firm process; you get firm justice.”
Training about Title IX issues would be needed for students, faculty and staff, according to Williamson. Since Title IX is a fluid situation, anyone brought into the coordinator position, including him, should undergo training, Williamson said.
“I don’t think there should be a way out of being trained,” Williamson said. “It’s something that this particular position should have to stand up for the first 10, 15 minutes and introduce themselves, say ‘this is who I am, here’s our stuff, here’s the rules.’”
Joey Wood, a counselor at the student wellness center, asked about Williamson’s approach for dealing with a student in a vulnerable situation, such as sharing their experience.
Williamson said that he would be careful if trying to console a student.
“You have got to be real careful in trying to console someone, you know, get involved in their feelings,” Williamson said. “It’s no place for that in objective thought. If you’re going to develop an objective opinion of what you think happened, you best not ‘it’s going to be okay’ type of thing, because you’re going to fail.”
For situations like that, counselors would be needed as resources, Williamson said. Resources like counselors are what Title IX should be offering, according to Williamson.
Deanna Williams, director of diversity programs, said she understood Williamson’s point about objectivity and asked about how he would encourage students to come forward and how he would show concern.
“Here’s the deal, and this is going to sound terrible…but everybody for the most part is an adult and you’re going to have to make adult decisions when you’re an adult,” Williamson said. “And that may be coming to the Title IX office to report something that’s happened to you.”
Although Williamson said that he does get impacted by situations like these, it’s not the job of the Title IX office to console anyone.
“The second you do that, the person who is accused is probably going to get a free ride, because you already look like you’re biased,” Williamson said. “It just doesn’t work like that and it can’t. It would not be effective.”
Williamson said that he would also like to get more awareness for Title IX and trust from the students.
“I’m a hard worker, I worked hard all my life and I’ve never failed at anything and I wouldn’t fail at this (position),” Williamson said. “It’s just who I am as a person.”