DeVos Proposes Controversial Rewrite of Rules for Investigating Campus Sexual Assault
Last Friday, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos released—for a 60-day public comment period—new rules for how schools that receive federal dollars must handle allegations of sexual assault. The Washington Post‘s Laura Meckler explains: “The rules stem from a 1972 law known as Title IX that bars sex discrimination at schools that receive federal funding. Most of the attention is on higher education, but the rules also apply to elementary and secondary schools. Unlike the less formal Obama-era guidance that is being replaced, the new plan is a proposed regulation that will be subject to public comment and, once finalized, carry the force of law…. Overall, the proposed regulation describes what constitutes sexual harassment or assault for the purpose of Title IX enforcement, what triggers a school’s legal obligation to respond to allegations, and how a school must respond.”
Meckler reports that the new rules would, if finalized, narrow the definition of sexual assault: “(T)he proposal puts forth a narrow definition of harassment. Obama guidelines held that harassment was ‘unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature.’ The proposed regulation defines it as ‘unwelcome conduct on the basis of sex that is so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive that it denies a person access to the school’s education program or activity.’ ” Meckler adds that under the new rules, a student’s complaint of sexual abuse must be reported to an “official with authority to take corrective action.” That person could include the school’s Title IX coordinator, but would not include a complaint, for example, made by a student to a teacher or other unauthorized personnel. Additionally, the incident must have occurred on campus or as part of the school’s programs or sponsored activities. Besides narrowing the definition of campus sexual assault, the new procedures are burdensome for the victims and likely to discourage the reporting of serious incidents.
A major change proposed in the new rules is that colleges would be required to hold a formal hearing once a complaint is received. Meckler reports: “In investigating complaints, schools are required to implement a range of due process procedures, including a presumption of Continue reading: DeVos Proposes Controversial Rewrite of Rules for Investigating Campus Sexual Assault | janresseger