Katherine Lasher will serve as the associate vice president for the Office of Institutional Equity beginning Aug. 1. Credit: Courtesy of Ohio State News
Ohio State announced the associate vice president of the Office of Institutional Equity, whose job it will be to lead safety, reporting enhancements and actions across campus.
Katherine Lasher will serve in this leadership position starting Aug. 1, in which she will be overseeing university responses to all harassment reports, including sexual- and gender-based, and violence. OIE is responsible for Ohio State’s Title IX compliance as well as the Americans with Disabilities Act and other state laws and university policies.
Lasher, a trained lawyer, was previously the senior leader for the Office of Civil Rights and Institutional Equity at Central Michigan University, where she also served as Title IX coordinator and affirmative action officer.
During her time at Central Michigan, Lasher was responsible for establishing the university’s first sexual misconduct policy, directing several harassment, discrimination and sexual misconduct awareness programs, and spearheading an initiative to train first-year students on relationships and consent.
“Our students and employees must learn and work in an environment that is fair, safe and just,” Executive Vice President and Provost Bruce A. McPheron said in the statement. “Ohio State is committed to that standard, and Katherine will guide our work to ensure we meet this level of excellence.”
Through Lasher’s position, Ohio State aims to establish coordinated responses for every student seeking assistance, accommodate them in an effective manner and ensure they are made aware of resources available to them, according to the university’s statement.
“Ohio State is one of the nation’s great land-grant universities, and I look forward to collaborating with students, faculty and staff to advance this office’s important mission,” Lasher said in the statement. “I am pleased to be returning to my home state to continue my work to ensure equitable treatment for all.”
