In this file photo from Sept. 16, 2014, demonstrators sit outside Strong Hall to protest Kansas University's handling of sexual assault investigations.

The University of Kansas has expelled people in 15 sexual harassment cases, which include acts of sexual violence, in the past four and a half years, according to a newly updated list.

Two of those expulsions were added in the last year and a half.

KU’s online list of Student Affairs sanctions for sexual harassment violations was updated in January to include sanctions issued from May 2012 through December 2016. The previous version of the list included sanctions issued from May 2012 through September 2015, and listed 13 expulsions for sexual harassment, the Journal-World previously reported.

Students were sanctioned in a total of 52 cases after being found responsible for sexual harassment since May 2012, according to the list.

All 15 expulsions also included campus bans and notations added to transcripts, according to the list. In addition, there were:

• Seven suspensions, for periods ranging from a semester to two years, with conditions for re-enrollment.

• 26 probations, for periods ranging from two months to two years. Most probations also required training in areas such as alcohol, healthy relationships, sexual harassment and consent.

• Two required to complete education or training.

• Two warnings.

The umbrella of sexual harassment includes everything from unwanted romantic advances or commentary about someone’s body to sexual violence, such as sexual battery or rape, according to KU’s sexual harassment policy.

Domestic violence, dating violence and stalking also fall under the umbrella of sexual harassment, university spokeswoman Erinn Barcomb-Peterson said.

All are prohibited by Title IX, Barcomb-Peterson said. Title IX is the federal law that also requires universities to investigate and adjudicate reports of sexual harassment on their campuses.

KU’s sexual harassment sanctions list first went online in February 2015, during the year that the KU Sexual Assault Task Force was meeting and preparing recommendations.

“There was a strong interest in that information,” Barcomb-Peterson said.

The list does not include any violation dates or indicate what category of violation each sanction was for. Barcomb-Peterson said that is to protect student privacy.

“We certainly don’t want to identify individuals or anything that would cause people to connect it to an individual,” she said. “If you have a date on it, it makes it that much easier to pinpoint to an individual case.”

The sexual harassment investigations, conducted by KU’s Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access, are separate from law enforcement investigations.

When IOA finds that a violation occurred, the case is generally referred to Student Affairs for disciplinary proceedings, according to KU. In cases where evidence is insufficient to support a violation, no disciplinary action is recommended.

An overarching concern for the university is protecting the educational environment, to ensure the best conditions for student learning are maintained, according to KU.

A goal is for sanctions to fit the seriousness of the violation.

“The Office of the Vice Provost for Student Affairs takes an educational approach to all conduct cases, not a punitive one,” the Student Affairs website says. “When students are found responsible for the allegations, it is our opportunity to educate the student/student organization on the effects of his/her/their behavior and to affect a change in the student’s behavior for the future.”