Though he grew up in Utah, Jess Morrison (JD ’15) left the state for higher education, earning his bachelor’s degree in literature and anthropology at the University of Notre Dame and a master’s degree in cultural anthropology at the University of Chicago. He returned to Utah and was teaching high school English when his wife, Assistant Lecturer Professor Jacqueline Morrison (JD ’12), convinced him to apply for law school.
“She had a great experience at Utah Law and loved law school, and I wanted to do something in my career that was a little more dynamic,” Morrison recalls. “When I came back to Utah after living in Chicago for a while, I realized how much I loved the mountains and skiing and that I wanted to stay in Utah. I knew the S.J. Quinney College of Law was the place I wanted to go.”
The small class sizes and access to professors also stood out when Morrison attended.
“Utah Law had a built-in network within the school itself, a cultural hub of professors and students working together to accomplish something. That was an exceptional part of the school that helped me succeed,” he says.
As he was most interested in trust and estates law, Morrison enjoyed classes in this area and considered pursuing a career in it after graduating.
“I was attracted to trust and estates because I thought it would be a really proactive space. You meet your clients before there’s a problem, so they’re not in an active dispute,” he says. “I liked working with people who were thinking ahead and I enjoy setting people up for success.”
Ultimately, however, Morrison chose a different path: working in the compliance division at Goldman Sachs.
“I managed multiple teams that handled employee misconduct issues in North and South America involving firm employees. It was a challenging but really rewarding four years,” Morrison recalls. “I liked the investigative and problem-solving work I did at the bank and also enjoyed working for a large organization.”
A few years later, Morrison decided he wanted to work in a sector that emphasized higher education. In 2019, he joined the University of Utah’s Office of Equal Opportunity Title IX (OEO) as an equal opportunity consultant. Morrison was named the associate director of the office in 2020 and became the interim director in January 2024 before accepting the director position in September 2024.
OEO is the office at the University of Utah that manages issues of discrimination, which includes sexual misconduct, under Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 and other federal and state laws. The university has policies, procedures, and resources in place to take immediate and appropriate steps to remedy issues of discrimination.
“We work on high-level, high-touch issues that are really impactful. OEO works with people in our community who are facing significant and extremely challenging moments in their lives,” Morrison says. “My position is similar to my past position at Goldman Sachs, in that we are navigating major events in people’s lives and exploring how organizations can help and serve those people, while also meeting its own obligations under federal law.”
The OEO office serves about 60,000 people, including undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, staff, and university hospital employees and patients. Morrison says that since he accepted his position in 2019, he has noticed more coordination between OEO, human resources, the dean of students, and public safety offices to provide better service for the entire population.
“Overwhelmingly, people go through their time at the institution and never interact with the OEO office. But for those who do, we want to provide them resources, guidance, and clarity as to what our policy offers the community,” Morrison says. “If people request an investigation in response to discrimination, we want to treat both sides equally and discern what’s most likely to have occurred, and then our question is whether or not what occurred would be a policy violation.”
Though OEO was located in the Park Building on University of Utah’s Presidents Circle when Morrison started, it has now relocated to the first floor of the Utah Law building and has grown to include 15 employees—five of whom are also Utah Law alumni. Morrison says many people believe OEO is a prosecutorial office, which is a misconception.
“We have a strong commitment to being neutral in our review of the allegations we receive. We treat every person who comes to our office with an appropriate level of dignity and respect and give them the same level of care and attention as we review the claims and allegations—whether they are a complaining party or a responding party,” he says. “When people work with OEO, we’re partnering with them to try to understand their position and their story. Every person at the institution is entitled to support and resources, and we can help them with that.”
Morrison says one of his first core goals as the newly appointed OEO director is to reduce case times and achieve resolution more quickly for clients. The office’s long-term goals are associated with University of Utah President Taylor Randall’s Impact 2030 plan, which includes increasing undergraduate enrollment, adding more on-campus housing, and improving graduation rates.
“With that plan comes a scaling of services to meet those demands with more students and staff on campus. We’ll also continue to grow our subject matter expertise with the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX, and other federal and state non-discrimination statutes, making sure we are compliant with state law,” he says. “Growing our internal knowledge base along those lines is really important and is a good way for us to serve both the institution and the people at the university.”
Reflecting on his own law school experience and positions he’s held, Morrison says he wants law students to know that it’s OK to not have a concrete plan for your career trajectory.
“You don’t have to have some grand vision about how you’re going to get from one place to another place or know exactly which place you’re trying to get to. You’ll continue to look for things that make sense to you and are interesting, and you will find your space,” he says. “I didn’t think in law school that I would end up in what is principally a civil rights space, but I couldn’t be happier. It is perfectly calibrated to my strengths and interests and my value set. I think that’s achievable for everybody, but you have to be patient.”