Laura Rugless is Michigan State University’s inaugural vice president for civil rights and Title IX education and compliance.

In this newly elevated role, which was transitioned from an associate vice president to a vice president position, Rugless will be responsible for leading the institution’s civil rights and Title IX compliance, serving as the university’s Title IX coordinator and building upon MSU’s efforts to cultivate a university community free of discrimination and harassment. The position will oversee the Office of Institutional Equity; the Prevention, Outreach and Education Department; the Resolution Office; the Office of Support and Equity; the equity review officer; and the Americans with Disabilities Act coordinator.

Conversation Highlights:

(1:02) – “During the recruiting process I learned about what’s been happening with the development of the program here over the past several years. And that was really astounding to me. I was really drawn in by that. As I met leadership and members of the OCR team, I really felt like this is the place I should come and help galvanize the approach to civil rights, including Title IX. MSU is doing some really incredible things and yet we know there’s more to do and we can learn how to do it better.”

(3:01) – “We grapple with anything that pertains to civil rights, and we do it through a lens of prevention, and then when there is an incident reported to our office, response and resolution through our processes.”

(6:15) – “We’ve had some really promising results in the Know More survey, which has demonstrated that there is a reduction in the prevalence of relationship violence and sexual misconduct that our university community is reporting through that survey, and that’s exciting. Knowing exactly what we may be doing to help drive those results will be really important.”

(8:33) – “We want our students to know that there are a lot of resources available to them here both to prevent – and should they experience any sort of incident – and to support them through that.”

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