This October, Trinity University welcomed Michaela Postell, new director of Title IX compliance. Previously, the Title IX and Equal Opportunity Services office were a single position, but now the Title IX office is fully staffed, with Postell in her role and Wiley Graham serving as director of Equal Employment Opportunity. Postell sat down with the Trinitonian to discuss her plans for her new role on campus.
With the hiring of Wiley Graham as EOS coordinator, what will your specific role be?
“My role is the director of Title IX compliance and Title IX Coordinator. I oversee the Title IX policy and the Trinity prohibited sexual misconduct and sexual harassment policies, so that is sexual harassment, an umbrella term that we use to describe sexual misconduct. Wiley’s role is over Title VII and Title VI, which is discrimination based on a protected class.
How are you finding Trinity so far?
“I’ve been here for two weeks, but I am thoroughly enjoying it. The campus is so beautiful. The people have been just so welcoming and sweet. I just couldn’t ask for a better introduction to campus. I love it so far.”
How have your professional and personal goals led you here?
“I’m very passionate about eliminating sex discrimination from campuses and really everywhere. I think that is a big issue that we have across the board, nationally, and the only way that we can prevent sex discrimination from happening is through prevention education, which is one of my passion areas. It’s been something that I’ve been doing since grad school — working and training on domestic violence, interpersonal violence, stalking awareness, bystander prevention — and I just naturally found my way.”
What are your goals for the office and the role?
“My goal is for the Title IX office to be seen as an additional resource on campus. I know oftentimes Title IX is looked at as a punitive option, and that’s a portion of what we do as an investigative service, but I really want to focus on the education and training efforts and making sure that our students, faculty and staff see us as a resource — that we’re here to support survivors and respondents because we are a neutral party who may be going through the Title IX process with many resources, options, supportive measures.”
How do you plan to implement Trinity-specific policies?
“How can we better create a policy that protects everyone and encompasses everyone? Be on the lookout for me reaching out to student stakeholders, and other stakeholders on campus when it’s time to revisit the policies and make sure that this is something that’s going to be beneficial for our community moving forward.”
What will the transition look like with the interim coordinator, Kateeka Harris, leaving?
“Kateeka is going to wrap up on all of her outstanding cases. Starting last Friday [Oct. 11], I will be handling all of the new inquiries that are coming in and sending out those outreach and providing support to our community.”
BRIEF
Title IX is a federal civil rights law that protects students from sex-based discrimination. The regulations, set by the Department of Education, apply to every educational institution that receives federal funding including Trinity. All faculty members are mandatory reporters, meaning if they hear or see something related to sexual misconduct, harassment or discrimination, they are legally required to notify the Title IX office. Additionally, there are four confidential resources on campus — the chaplains, athletic trainers, Counseling Services and Health Services — who are required to report sexual misconduct but not identifying information. The complainant is the person who initiates a formal complaint and the respondent is the person against whom the formal complaint is made. Anyone can report something, but only the complainant can file a formal complaint. Title IX offers resources for pregnant and/or parenting students as well as survivors of behaviors that include stalking, intimate partner violence, sexual violence, discrimination based on sex in athletic and educational contexts and resources for pregnant and/or parenting students.
If I were a student, what would be the best way to get in touch with your office?
“You can give me a call. My office number is [210-999-7835]. You can email me, [[email protected] or [email protected]]. Or, I love it when people just stop by. If there’s ever an immediate concern and I’m in my office [Northrup 210], there’s an open-door policy. Definitely feel free to walk in and just say, ‘Hey, Dr. Postell, do you have a minute?’ And I will gladly sit down and listen to anyone’s concerns, and even if it doesn’t fall under Title IX.”
What does that mean if I receive an email from you about a case?
“If you’re receiving an email from me, it is initially to provide resources and options. Provide support, if there are any supportive measures that I can implement that could be changing class schedules, providing an escort, you know, to and from places, changing residence halls. My first initial outreach is providing resources. From there after the meeting, it’s really up to the complainant, the party, on how they want to move forward in the Title IX process. We do not force an investigation on anyone. We provide, like I said, those rights, resources and options, and if an investigation is wanted, then we talk about the next steps in that process and kind of what that looks like from there.”
Resources
The Title IX office is here for all students on campus and gives students the choice of how to proceed after something has been reported. There is a QR code inside every bathroom stall you can use to report something. Additionally, the Rape Crisis Center of San Antonio has a 24-hour hotline 210-3497273, an online chat feature on their website, and a physical location at 4606 Centerview Drive Suite 240, San Antonio, TX 78228. The Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN) hotline is 800-656-4673 and they have an online chat online.rainn.org.
