Students at the University of Connecticut Thursday were emailed a “civility survey” from the president’s office inviting them to submit “recommendations to enhance and create a positive campus culture at UConn.”
The one-question survey follows a group of students filing a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights and a civil lawsuit in federal court challenging how university officials responded to their reports of sexual assault.
The survey and email make no mention of those recent events and don’t ask about sexual assaults.
“Please share your specific recommendations to enhance the campus culture and civility. All recommendations are completely anonymous,” the survey reads.
The panel assessing these responses — the President’s Task Force on Civility and Campus Culture — was created in May after a letter critical of the university president went viral. The author of that letter, Carolyn Luby, is a student and the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit against UConn for its handling of the sexual harassment she experienced on campus.
When the task force was created in May, UConn President Susan Herbst wrote students telling them the task force’s purpose is to “explore all matters related to civil behavior and speech at the university.”
“The task force will examine and recommend new or expanded programming and avenues of educating and communicating with students regarding the following; effective and courteous ways of exploring and discussing differing opinions in person and electronically, means of supporting civil and respectful discourse, ways to deter and address sexual violence of any kind, harassment, intimidation, bullying, incivility and the stigmatization of individuals or groups of students for any reason,” she wrote.