She spoke of her assault. Her boss had no choice but to speak for her.

Content warning: This story includes mention of rape. The National Sexual Assault Hotline is 1-800-656-4673.

Lauren was raped on campus freshman year, but chose not to report. She told The DePaulia she had not fully processed the trauma and had heard that DePaul’s Title IX office “wasn’t really a great resource for survivors.”

In the fall of 2019, during her senior year, while at her job at the Loop Campus, she saw her rapist for the first time since the assault. 

Feeling overwhelmed, she called her boss to inform her about the situation. The next day, she learned that her boss had reported the assault to Title IX out of duty as a mandated reporter. 

Most DePaul employees function as mandated reporters to the Title IX office, meaning if they become aware of any instances of sexual harassment, assault or any other sex-based discrimination, they are required to report to the Title IX coordinator. 

“I called my boss rightfully like freaking out was like, ‘I don’t know if I can run this event anymore, like freaking out,’” she said. “… But then the next day, my boss had told me that since I had told her essentially that I had been raped, that she had to report it to Title IX.” 

Lauren said her boss took steps to ensure that she was comfortable following the mandated report. But that didn’t stop her from feeling that her voice was stolen.

“The right to report and have them know about it, it was kind of taken away from me,” she said.

The DePaulia requested comment from Lauren’s boss, who forwarded the query to DePaul’s media relations team — which declined to comment. 

For many survivors of sexual harassment and assault, fear of handing over control of their trauma to a Title IX office can be a daunting barrier.

“People are afraid they’re not going to be believed, and sometimes they don’t want their perpetrator to get in trouble or to be expelled and they want to heal,” said Christine Zuba, a senior staff attorney for the Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation. “And maybe they want justice but they are afraid of this process no longer being controlled when they go to the Title IX office.”

After the report was made, Lauren received an email on Nov. 22 from the coordinator at the time, which notified her of the report. Lauren was provided a list of resources. After Lauren chose not to respond, the file was officially closed on Dec. 2.

The mandated reporting incident inspired Lauren to seek therapy, ultimately choosing to report the rape to Title IX in March 2020. 

“I’m not really looking from them, honestly, any support or really like anything to happen to him, I just kind of want a record that, like, this happened,” she said. “Someone should know about it.”

Statz, the current Title IX coordinator, told The DePaulia that outside of mandated reporting, there are other avenues that offer victims more agency in reporting, including confidential reporting to factions of the university like Health Promotion and Wellness, University Counseling Services and University Ministry.

Mandated reporting applies to non-confidential employees – like Lauren’s boss. Statz said that if non-confidential employees are made aware of an alleged incident of sexual violence, they are required to report the following: 

• The name of the person who reported the information to the employee;
• The name of the alleged affected individual, if different than the individual reporting; 
• The name of the alleged perpetrator (if known);
• The names of others involved; and
• Any relevant facts that have been provided, such as date, time, and location. For instances involving sexual and relationship violence, the employee will also provide the reporting individual with a Sexual and Relationship Violence Information Sheet.

 “Agency lies in the student’s decision about whether or not to share information about the person who caused them harm,” Statz told The DePaulia. “The impression that a responsible employee might push them to reveal information that they are not comfortable providing is one that I hope we can put to rest. That being said, another way of looking at this piece is that complainants/survivors have a right to know their resources and the best way to do so is by students being connected to our office, so we can make sure they know their rights and options under Title IX.”

After looking back on the experience as a whole, Lauren said she doesn’t think mandated reporting should be part of DePaul’s process. 

“It completely took agency away from me,” she said. “The idea of having to report and having to tell people what happened just kind of made me feel pretty helpless and out of control.”

“When I knew my boss had reported, it was probably the day that I felt the most unsafe on campus,” she said.