Published Jan. 30, 2024

Dear MSU Community,

During the week of Feb. 5-8, 2024, Montana State University will welcome officers from the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), a part of the U.S. Department of Education charged with enforcing federal civil rights in educational settings.

OCR is currently evaluating Montana State University's compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. These federal civil rights laws prohibit discrimination and harassment on the bases of race, color, national origin, and sex.

During the visit, OCR will gather information regarding the university's policies and practices for addressing discrimination based on race, color, national origin (including shared ancestry), sex, and LGBTQ+ identity on campus. OCR gathers information in a variety of ways, including meeting with students in forums and with invited faculty and staff in individual meetings regarding their experiences -- positive or negative -- on campus.

To that point, OCR is asking to meet a wide representation of MSU students, faculty, and staff in individual sessions and/or as part of group sessions. Invitations will be sent to eligible participants in a separate communication. If you receive an invitation to a session, I encourage you to attend. OCR is looking for a variety of viewpoints from a cross-section of campus.

Attendance and participation for in-person sessions is conducted by invitation only. If members of the public would like to provide feedback to the OCR, they may do so by submitting written comments to the below OCR representatives. Or, if you would like to speak with a representative from OCR, please contact:

For your convenience, we have prepared a Frequently Asked Questions section below with more information about this visit.

We welcome the U.S. Department of Education's OCR officers to Montana State University, and we look forward to their input and recommendations.

Sincerely,

Waded Cruzado
President, Montana State University

What is OCR?

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is a part of the U.S. Department of Education, charged with enforcing certain federal civil rights in educational settings. It investigates complaints of discrimination, provides technical assistance to institutions to help achieve compliance with civil rights laws, and addresses problems with compliance.

Why is OCR on campus?

The OCR is reviewing the university's overall policy and procedures in response to student allegations of protected class discrimination. OCR staff are also meeting with select university staff and students.

What is the purpose of OCR's focus group meetings?

It is typical for the OCR to seek to hear directly from students about a university's response to allegations of discrimination.

With whom is OCR meeting?

OCR is meeting with a select group of MSU students. In order to protect the privacy of students, faculty, and staff, the university is not disclosing the identities of MSU community members who have been invited to meet with OCR representatives.

What has been MSU's response to OCR's requests?

In response to the OCR's request, the university has provided a number of documents pertaining to our policies and procedures. The university quickly made every effort to comply with the spirit and letter of OCR requests and work collaboratively with OCR staff to ensure an effective site visit.

What will we learn from this process?

The campus has been working to adopt best practices in addressing discrimination, and we have confidence that we are making substantial progress. We welcome the OCR input and will utilize the findings to help to make any necessary changes to our policies or practices to maintain an environment for all students, faculty, and staff free from discrimination.

What is the university's stance on issues of discrimination?

Montana State University is deeply committed to an inclusive campus environment in which all members of the community are respected and have equal access to educational opportunity. We see protected class discrimination as fundamentally incompatible with the university's mission and are committed to preventing and responding promptly and fairly to all violations.