Author: Arielle Laub
Occidental hired sexual assault policy consultants Gina Smith and Leslie Gomez for outside review of college policies in light of the recent misconduct debate. Smith and Gomez made their first set of visits to campus on April 3 and 4. According to President Jonathan Veitch, Smith and Gomez plan to analyze Occidental’s current policies and assess previous cases of assault to inform their recommendations. The college will announce Smith and Gomez’s recommendations on May 1.
Veitch explained that the consultants will assist the college in legal matters concerning policy reform. “They will help us throughout the legal issues because some of the things that we are contemplating will have legal implications,” Veitch said. “…and we just have to understand what the risks are.”
Smith and Gomez will not actually implement policy change. Rather, they will make recommendations through the Sexual Assault Task Force about policy reform. President Veitch also noted that they will be reviewing past cases to discern areas in which the college can improve. “[Smith and Gomez are] looking into some past cases to see if we have fallen down in some of the ways that we were charged,” he said.
According to Occidental Sexual Assault Coalition members Professors Danielle Dirks and Caroline Heldman, the consultants have not yet met with any survivors of sexual assault or anyone who has been through the judicial process at Occidental. However, Veitch promised that they will be meeting with students in the future.
Smith has two decades of experience as an Assistant District Attorney in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office, where she prosecuted homicide, rape and criminal cases. She has spent 15 years of her career focusing specifically on sexual assault.
Gomez was an Assistant District Attorney at the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office for 14 years. She assists her clients, including colleges, in developing policies in compliance with the Clery Act and Title IX. She has over a decade of experience prosecuting child abuse, domestic violence and sexual assault cases.
Smith has worked with many colleges across the country, most prominently University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill (UNC) and Amherst. Amherst was recommended as a potential model for Occidental’s policy reform for its similar structure and small student body.
Andrea Pino and Annie Clark, two of the former students who filed Office of Civil Rights complaints against UNC, expressed some concern with Smith’s work.
“While Ms. Smith has high credentials, many students – from my experience – find her untrustworthy due to the fact that she was hired by the very institutions students say wronged them,” Clark said. However, Clark was also quick to commended schools for taking positive first steps towards acknowledging the problem of sexual violence.
Veitch told The Occidental Weekly that he was not aware how much the two consultants were paid for their services. “You know, I don’t even know how much [Smith] is being paid,” Veitch said. “I didn’t negotiate with her, but I don’t see why that’s relevant.”
According to Dirks and Heldman, who met with the consultants, Gomez is paid $515 per hour while Smith is paid $585 per hour. Over the course of two eight-hour work days, this amounts to a bill of approximately $17,600.
President Veitch has high hopes for Smith and Gomez, who he believes will help make the system of sexual assault reporting more transparent.
“I want to make sure whatever the problems are … that they get a fair hearing and in a very transparent way, from outside people who owe us nothing,” Veitch said. “There will be some assessment about where we are, what we have done that is inadequate and what policies are effective and legal.”
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