Swarthmore welcomed Matt Walsh as the college’s Title IX Coordinator in late July following a national search conducted by a Swarthmore committee. Walsh, a native of Havertown, PA, follows former Coordinator Bindu Jayne, who resigned in March.
Coming into his position, Walsh said in an interview with The Phoenix that his early goals have been to “be a presence in the community;” “to meet as many students, staff, and faculty” as he can; and to “understand the campus before he makes any large changes.”
Walsh began his career at DePaul University, where he studied women’s and gender studies as an undergraduate student.
Over the past decade, Walsh has been working to mitigate domestic and dating violence. He has worked in civil rights, managing misconduct cases, providing pregnancy accommodations, and overseeing a hospital. He created an initiative, Our Music My Body, targeting sexual violence and harassment at music venues, including festivals like Lallapalooza and Firefly. He also brings years of experience working as a Title IX trainer and prevention education specialist.
Walsh comes to Swarthmore from the University of Illinois Chicago, where he spent years working as a Title IX and Equal Employment Opportunity Investigator and as a student receiving his master’s degree in urban education and administration. Of these years and his work prior, Walsh says he has maintained “a passion for making sure that people are safe in their relationships — whether it be a friendship or romantic — and that they deserve support and care from their community, but also the institutions that they’re a part of.”
What vision of a safe community is Walsh working towards? In his words, “A safe campus is one where any person is able to learn, live, and exist free of violence and free of harm, and then feel the support of an institution when something does not work out, when harm potentially does occur.”
Walsh added, “We understand that things happen and there will be a response, but we want to create and build trust within the community. We are going to engage further and really think about how and what somebody might need to be able to continue to learn and live in peace.”
To support the Title IX Office’s mission to foster a safe and supportive community, Walsh highlighted multiple points of harm reduction. He advocates awareness of campus policies and procedures, and of the Title IX house as a resource. Importantly, he cautions, the Title IX house “is not immediately an investigative body,” meaning that investigations and punitive actions are not automatically engaged following a complaint.
“It is the opportunity to understand what is available to you,” he explained. “So if you experience some type of harm, and it is impacting you, and you’re unable to go to class the next day, then you’re able to talk through that with me to make sure there’s academic accommodations to provide or to connect you with [Counseling and Psychological Services].”
Walsh spoke on the importance of communication in two ways: not jumping to conclusions and recognizing that “oftentimes harm occurs after there’s a buildup of behaviors that are going unaddressed.”
This means becoming comfortable addressing derogatory comments, sexism, and behavior that “feels questionable or problematic,” or confronting someone speaking poorly of their dating partner with ease. Rather than tearing someone down in these instances, Walsh cautions a behavior-first response to promote “a community where people are learning and able to be free of harm.”
He hopes these two guiding principles will encourage growth in involved persons rather than isolation and restricted development. “We are allowed to communicate with our peers,” he said, “But how are you letting people make small mistakes and learn from them, as opposed to shame them and push them away, so they don’t ever, or are not ever able to, learn and grow?”
Walsh, with plenty on his desk, additionally shared his reflections on campus concerns over the Title IX Office’s limitations and inaction with regard to two issues: support for transgender students and response to sexual misconduct. In an ongoing civil action against the college by former transgender runner Evie Parts, Swarthmore argued it is “not on notice” to provide Title IX protections for gender identity.
“As a campus community, we are living in unprecedented political times, which require complicated responses to a rapidly changing legal landscape that has impacted our marginalized communities tremendously,” Walsh wrote in a follow-up email to The Phoenix. “I also fully appreciate that responses from the college sometimes feel inadequate or harmful.”
Separating himself from the Matt Walsh of the conservative media outlet The Daily Wire, Walsh said that he is “unequivocally … committed to supporting trans students and to fostering a safe and supportive learning environment for everyone, as well as to providing an appropriate response when harm occurs.”
Recent alarm surrounding campus sexual misconduct cases has drawn attention to the role of Title IX in enforcing a confidential and safe environment.
In response to a recent opinion piece published in The Phoenix on the school’s inaction on campus sexual violence, Walsh affirmed the need for privacy and administrative involvement through the Title IX Office.
Walsh said: “My colleagues and I try our best to follow the lead of the person who comes forward. Naturally, those conversations are not publicly available. These matters are complicated, and responding appropriately requires both an assessment of the needs of the person who was harmed, as well as complying with the law and ensuring campus safety. When an individual does not want to move forward with a formal complaint, we still look into the alleged behavior and work to address it through education campaigns and restorative processes, among other measures.”
Aware of the anxieties many Swarthmore students may have after learning about these incidents and the anonymous author’s experiences, as well as the attention given to his office in the efficacy of its response, Walsh underscored privacy for the involved students while encouraging input and communication from across the campus community.
“One investigation [alone] is not going to change the culture. I also understand that trust and repair cannot be built overnight. So I welcome and expect continued feedback about the work of my office and how things are working, or not,”
Walsh said that after almost four months on campus, he has found a strong willingness to create change and move forward. “I meet with people daily with the goal of improving the campus climate and making our work more accessible,” he said.
To deepen his understanding of Swarthmore, Walsh extends his availability to student gatherings. “I want to be invited to as many things as possible. I am ready to say ‘yes’ and have conversations and have people meet me.”
He is similarly enthusiastic about attending employee gatherings. Walsh said he is also talking with as many staff as possible to be present at their events, and hopes to be invited into classrooms, as well, if faculty invite him. And of course, he is “always happy to say hello and talk about anything,” encouraging the community to get to know him on the paths.
