New Title IX Coordinator Shaniqua Brown.
Photo by Anton Zemba.
This week’s hidden figure is excited and happy to be a part of the campus community. She has completed her first week and is looking forward to meeting more students, faculty and staff. Although Shaniqua Crawford, the new Title IX Coordinator, was featured in last week’s issue, there is still so much to get to know about her. Her office is located in Brokaw Hall Room 101 where her main role is to work with students, faculty and staff on prevention methods, education around Title IX and giving survivors resources, all while making sure the process is fair and unbiased. All universities are required to and should have a Title IX Coordinator.
“I can’t say that I always wanted to be a Title IX Coordinator because when you look at the history of Title IX, it is only the last couple of decades that we have seen a push for this role on college campuses,” Crawford explained. “I can say that I have always wanted to be a lawyer and that means I have always wanted to be of service to others. As a lawyer my duty to uphold the notions of equity and fairness translate well in the world of Title IX.”
Crawford will be involved in the Sexual Harrassment and Assault Resources & Education (SHARE) program. From her understanding, “SHARE is a volunteer committee that assists in advising the university on sexual misconduct and developing education and resources for our campus community. It is made up of various constituents on campus who are dedicated to ensuring that we are a progressive and knowledgeable community surrounding these issues.”
Crawford’s role is to ensure that we are in compliance with Title IX regulations and that we are utilizing the best practices in our training, preventative education and programming, to listen and be an ally to her hardworking fellow SHARE members and, overall, be of service to our campus community. So far, Crawford has attended several meetings and meet-and-greets. Her main goal is outreach to student organizations and to try to get to know her colleagues.
Prior to Lawrence, Crawford was the Deputy Title IX Coordinator and Prevention Coordinator/Investigator at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Her favorite part of her previous career was her interaction with students and serving as the co-advisor for the Sisterhood, a student organization.
“In my previous role, I was charged with conducting actual investigations into complaints and creatively educating the campus community on matters surrounding Title IX in an effort to prevent violations of policy,” she explained. “Additionally, I served as a consultant with different faculty, staff and student organizations on issues surrounding both this area and Civil Rights compliance. My role was a bit more broad because of the Civil Rights aspect.”
She chose to work at Lawrence because the campus is safe and mindful as well as focused on education, which is where she comes in. In order to make change it requires the interest of everyone, and Crawford sees that as the main goal of Lawrentians.
“The students here are absolutely great! They are a welcoming and passionate group of individuals,” remarked Crawford.
When asked why she thinks sexual misconduct is a big deal on college campuses, and what she hopes to do in order to prevent it, Crawford responded, “It is a big deal because it adversely impacts the learning environment and the purpose and mission of the university. I hope to shift the culture around these issues through education and programming, and to work diligently to address issues when they do arise.”
In her free time, Crawford likes to read fiction and spend time with her three girls and guinea pig. Although she does not travel much, she would like to travel more often.
Her main goal at Lawrence is to assist the needs of the training program, build a rapport, and let everyone know she is here and working, helping individuals take action steps in trainings and being of assistance to bring changes to campus. Crawford is here to be of service. She wants to be known as a familiar face and a leading expert in her field. She wants students to know she has an open-door policy.
Crawford’s inspiration stems from her kids and students in higher education. “I was once in that position. Students remind me of my purpose and why we should all come together to do this type of work,” added Crawford.
Professional, dedicated to her purpose and enthusiastic to help others are the attributes that make Crawford a hidden figure of note. Please give her a warm welcome!