By Elyse CarmosinoSTAFF WRITER
Among a number of administrative changes with the start of the 2015-2016 school year, Hofstra University decided to do what many other universities have not done yet – appoint the school’s first full-time Title IX coordinator.
Lara Nochomovitz, an Ohio native who recently moved to the area from Denver, has a background in legal work. Prior to being hired at Hofstra University, she practiced law for six years at a national commercial firm.
“My practice has been very varied,” she said about her experience. “It has included a significant amount of higher education work, including, but not limited to, issues related to Title IX.”
Title IX is the federal law that bans discrimination on the basis of sex in schools that receive federal funding. While many know of the law because of its protection of women’s athletics, the legislation covers many areas of sex-related discrimination, including career education, learning environment and sexual harassment. A large part of Nochomovitz’s job is ensuring that Hofstra is abiding by both federal and state law regarding all Title IX issues.
“My first few weeks have been great,” said Nochomovitz, whose first official day was Sept. 14. “There’s a lot of enthusiasm at Hofstra and a lot of awareness. A lot of good work has [already] been done prior to my arrival, and I feel like everybody’s been really cooperative and has positioned me well to be able to take on my duties … They couldn’t be friendlier or more welcoming.”
Hofstra’s decision to take the step of hiring a full-time Title IX coordinator is not typical of most universities, and many people are wondering why the sudden choice was made.
Jean Christodoulou, the school’s former part-time Title IX coordinator said it was a matter of ensuring its importance. “We realized that it’s an important issue,” she said. “And so this is something that we want to pay very close attention to and make sure it gets all of the time, energy and expertise that it deserves.”
With the change, Christodoulou will spend 100 percent of her time as the Assistant Vice President for Student Affairs.
“I’ve had a terrific time working with students in my role as Title IX coordinator, but it was in addition to other duties,” Christodoulou said. “This is important enough to warrant someone to pay attention to it full-time.”
Hofstra students are also optimistic about the staffing change. “I was glad to hear that Hofstra now has a Title IX coordinator. I think it’s important that there is someone on campus that the students can reach out to,” said junior English and psychology major and Student Government Association (SGA) member Erin Casey. “It’s fantastic that we have someone who can not only educate the student body, but also be a strong addition to the support system Hofstra provides.”
As Nochomovitz settles in to her duties as the first full-time person in her position, she is looking forward to what lies ahead.
“I’m really excited about the opportunity. As a lawyer you give people advice and you never get to participate in the implementing of it. It’s not always true, but in a lot of cases you give people advice and it goes in to the netherworld. I’m excited to be a part of actually developing strategies to implement policies,” she said. “I’m so excited to be in an environment where people are so collaborative, and everyone just wants to work together and cooperate, and that’s amazing.”
