Meet CU Boulder’s new Title IX chief: Llen Pomeroy
From the moment she started law school, Llen Pomeroy knew she’d pursue a career focused on creating greater access and inclusion for people who have been marginalized and underrepresented.
She began her legal career focused on the application of laws designed to protect individuals from sexual misconduct and discrimination based on protected-class status such as age, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, ability, religion, ethnicity and race. After arriving at CU Boulder in 2005, her focus expanded to include the same protections in the higher education environment.
“Federal civil rights laws are responsible for profound changes in the workforce and for creating educational opportunities for millions of students,” said Pomeroy, who recently stepped into the role of interim associate vice chancellor and Title IX coordinator for the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance at CU Boulder.
Leaving a career as a civil rights attorney behind in her native New York, she headed west in 2005, and her career path at CU Boulder began in the former Office of Discrimination and Harassment—OIEC’s predecessor. There, she spent nearly a decade investigating reports of sexual misconduct, discrimination and harassment cases inolving campus employees.
In 2014, the Office of Discrimination and Harassment became OIEC under the leadership of Valerie Simons, and Pomeroy was instrumental in shaping the new office’s vision and structure as a consolidated campus resource dedicated to addressing reports of sexual misconduct and protected-class discrimination and harassment among faculty, staff and students.
In 2018, she became assistant vice chancellor and deputy Title IX coordinator for OIEC and, this fall, stepped into her new role when Simons, her predecessor, mentor and former boss, departed CU Boulder to serve as the chief compliance officer and Title IX coordinator for the four-campus CU system.
As CU Boulder’s new Title IX chief, Pomeroy now leads a team of 20 staff members, including investigators, educators, program assessment specialists and staff responsible for compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Together, her team works to “foster a safe, inclusive and accessible environment for students, faculty and staff,” she said.
Since coming to CU Boulder nearly 17 years ago, Pomeroy has seen the campus’s education and prevention efforts grow substantially—from the scope of ADA compliance to university policies designed to address sexual misconduct, discrimination and harassment.
“The commitment of CU Boulder’s administration to go beyond mere compliance and strive to become a national leader in this space has been inspiring,” she said.
Pomeroy takes great pride in the fact that, since 2014, OIEC has employed “a comprehensive and integrated approach” for case resolutions, education, assessment, support services and ADA accommodations. Under OIEC’s leadership, CU Boulder:
- Became the first university in the country to implement mandatory Bystander Intervention training for all incoming first-year and transfer students; each year OIEC conducts hundreds of sessions for thousands of students, faculty and staff.
- Created the Don’t Ignore It public awareness campaign and a companion website that provides reporting options, strategies to address concerns, support resources on and off campus and skills to help others.
- Revised university policies, campus procedures and education programs to comply with new federal Title IX regulations issued by the U.S. Department of Education in 2020 to address sexual misconduct on college campuses; under Pomeroy’s leadership, OIEC implemented revised investigative procedures for all campus sexual misconduct cases in response to the new federal guidelines.
- Administered the 2021 Campus Culture Survey this fall in partnership with the Office of Data Analytics as part of the campus’s efforts to address systemic underrepresentation, to become more diverse and inclusive, and to promote an anti-racism culture; it was the first time in university history that OIEC and ODA administered the survey for all students, faculty and staff. Participation included 71% of staff, 55% of faculty, 43% of graduate students and 25% of undergraduate students completing the survey.
“We have worked extraordinarily hard over the past 18 months to ensure that university and campus policies are in compliance with new federal regulations and state law, while at the same time staying laser focused on our mission to ensure a safe nondiscriminatory environment and a process that is fair and equitable to all parties,” Pomeroy said.
In life and in work, Pomeroy has always sought solutions.
“Campus policies, procedures and programming need to be evaluated and reshaped continuously to meet the needs of the community. My mission is to continue CU Boulder’s legacy of innovation and meaningful progress in the development of policies, case resolutions and prevention efforts,” she said. “It doesn’t happen overnight, but my experience tells me that we can effectuate significant progress if we remain committed to listening to the experiences of students, faculty and staff, and respond accordingly.”
Pomeroy also recognizes and appreciates that she is part of the very same community that OIEC serves.
CU Boulder has become her “home,” she said, and she wants the campus’s programs and policies “to reflect the very best of who we are as an educational institution and the values we stand for.”