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6 Hyde Park Herald, February 26, 2014“The Nightingale” opening Pressure on assault policyBy JENNET POSEYHerald InternThe Hyde Park School of Dance (HPSD)will present an original production of HansChristian Andersen’s “The Nightingale” at 7p.m. on Saturday, March 15 and at 2 p.m. onSunday, March 16 at the Logan Center, 915E. 60th St.The performance by HPSD, 5650 S.Woodlawn Ave., is an adaptation of the 1843fairy tale about a Chinese emperor and hismechanical nightingale. It features more than80 student dancers ages 7 to 18 backed bynarration and music from Russian composerModest Mussorgsky’s “Pictures at anExhibition” and “Night on Bald Mountain.”Rehearsal director Aimee Tye says she isimpressed at how well the students haveprogressed under a tight rehearsal schedule.“Our students always do this,” she said.“They always bring the ballets to a new leveland they just make it theirs.”According to HPSD founder and ArtisticDirector August Tye, the production has beena community effort involving HPSDstudents, their parents and volunteers:“There’s an army of people who believe inthis mission.”Tickets are $20 for general admission and$10 for children ages 5 to 18, seniors andstudents with ID. Admission is free forchildren younger than 5. For moreinformation, visit hydeparkdance.org or call773-493-8498.herald@hpherald.comHyde Park School of Dance Artistic Director August Tye works with student Drew Henry ata rehearsal for its March production of “The Nightingale.”Jennet PoseyBy LINDSAY WELBERSStaff WriterUniversity of Chicago alumni havesubmitted an open letter to their alma materdemanding sexual assault policy reform thatthey called for in the 1990s.In a letter to U. of C. President RobertZimmer dated Feb. 13, a group calledAlumni for a Student Assault Policy said“We are deeply concerned that shortcomingsthat we identified in our university’sapproach to sexual violence when we werestudents apparently still persist. We hope thatthe US Department of Education’s Office forCivil Rights (OCR) investigation will be thecatalyst to meaningful, permanentimprovements in both the response to andprevention of sexual assault.”Last month, OCR said it would beinvestigating the university for mishandlinga student’s sexual assault complaint andviolating her rights under Title IX, whichbans sex-based discrimination.The letter says in 1996 and 1997 thenstudentsformed Action for a Student AssaultPolicy (ASAP) and the Coalition AgainstSexual Violence (CASV) “to address whatwe perceived as an urgent need for reform inhow our university prevented and respondedto sexual and other forms of assault. Theorganizations were created in reaction tofrustration with what we believed were theadministration’s mishandled and inadequateresponses to both sexual assaults andassaults against minority students.”The letter argues that at the time that ASAPwas formed “allegations of assault wereoften handled by administrators with little orinadequate training in rape crisis response.Investigations, when conducted, wereusually channeled through campus securityrather than the Chicago Police Department.Campus police and student health servicesregularly failed to follow best practices whenresponding to allegations of sexual assaultcrimes, resulting in loss of evidence andinadequate care. Victims were offeredrelocation and “mediation” with theirassailant, whom they might see in classagain the next day.”Alumni are invited to add their signature tothe letter at bit.ly/1fnY6Sf.Last June, Olivia Ortiz filed a federalcomplaint with the OCR after shecomplained to the university that said shehad been assaulted by her-then boyfriend.Ortiz said was pressured into an “informalmediation” where met face-to-face with herassailant and the Dean of Students SusanArt. Informal mediation is a process thatviolates both university procedures andTitle IX of the Education Amendment of1972 of the Civil Rights Act, which banssex-based discrimination in all educationprograms or activities that receive financialassistance.Last month the OCR expanded itsinvestigation campus-wide.The university in response created a fulltimeposition for a dedicated specialist whowould work under the dean of students andspecialize in cases of sexual assault andmisconduct on campus. The position hadpreviously been part-time.Ortiz has been appointed to a studentadvisory board with resources to work onsexual violence prevention on campus andemergency student response systems.l.welbers@hpherald.com