UT students speak out on new Title IX rules
To Rhea Shahane, a first-year law student at the University of Texas, and Isabella Fanucci, a graduating senior at UT, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ new Title IX ruling, issued Wednesday, felt like a slap in the face.
DeVos’ changes to Title IX, a 1972 law barring discrimination based on sex within education, has changed the way colleges are required to investigate sexual misconduct while bolstering the rights of those accused.
“It’s basically taking away all this work that survivors and advocates have done to get people to be more comfortable in coming forward with their stories and experiences and reporting what they’ve gone through … and everything that has been done to reduce the stigma of experiencing sexual violence and harassment,” said Shahane, who along with Fanucci has worked worked for years with the student organization Not On Our Campus.
The group provides guidance and resources on responding to sexual violence, teaches and supports survivors through investigations, and hosts consent campaigns and events around “red zones,” or peak times when sexual assault occurs on campus.
The new ruling, which goes into effect Aug. 14, also narrows the definition of sexual harassment and requires colleges to investigate claims only if they’re reported to certain officials.
Students will be allowed to question or cross-examine one another through representatives during live hearings, and universi
ties will be responsible solely for allegations that happen on campus or within school-sanctioned fraternities and sororities.
DeVos also clarified for the first time that dating violence, stalking and domestic violence must be addressed under Title IX, and she added new language ordering schools to provide special support for victims regardless of whether they file a formal complaint.
On its website, the Department of Education says the new policies “hold schools accountable for failure to respond equitably and promptly to sexual misconduct incidents and ensures a more reliable adjudication process that is fair to all students.” But some students and lawyers say that the new law will instead silence survivors and undo decades of progress.
“The Title IX process is not perfect but at the same time, you have to keep both parties in mind,” Fannucci said. “These people had their consent and autonomy stripped from them … and you’re putting them on trial.”
Jim Dunnam, one of the attorneys who represents 15 victims in Baylor University’s ongoing infamous sexual assault case, said the new ruling “functions to intimidate and re-victimize the women.”
“It is hard enough to come forward. But those cross examining don’t even have to be attorneys so you can have very inappropriate questioning beyond what is required,” Dunnam said in a text message.
Kaya Epstein, a first-year student at UT and a member of school’s student-led Coalition Against Sexual Misconduct, said disgust was her first reaction when she heard about the ruling.
“It really puts the burden on survivors. They should not have to have representation to prove their story. They shouldn’t be rejected from telling their story because their story occurred off-campus. UT is going to have to take major steps to fulfill their promises they already gave students.”
The Coalition Against Misconduct, a group that has demanded accountability, transparency and adequate action from the UT administration in response to sexual misconduct allegations against faculty, released a written statement Wednesday calling on UT officials to uphold previous Title IX standards that students have pushed for and to use discretion when applying the new rules.
“UT Austin should hold itself to a higher standard in protecting its students and employees,” the group wrote.
The group has requested that the university still investigate off-campus sexual harassment and sexual assault cases, despite the DeVos policy requiring colleges to only investigate sanctioned groups and properties.
The group reasons that “students are the responsibility of the university and violence committed by students against other students should be handled by Title IX, regardless of location.”
The requirement of representation at future hearings “will pose a barrier to justice for survivors with less monetary resources than the accused,” the group wrote. “Although DeVos claims these provisions are in the interest of due process and First Amendment rights, it can more adequately be described as favoring the abuser and avoiding the accountability of institutions.”
“All of the work of the coalition, our whole goal is to make UT safer for survivors and to make UT a place where survivors are comfortable to come forward,” Epstein said, “and that when you commit harm against someone, there will be consequences against your actions.”
DeVos’ ruling has also acquired critics around the country.
More than 30 higher education associations, including the American Association of State College and Universities, sent a letter to urge DeVos to delay the publication of the final rule, stating that “colleges and universities should not be asked to divert precious resources away from more critical efforts in order to implement regulations unrelated to” the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mildred García, president of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities, also expressed concerns about implementing new regulatory language “in the middle of August at a time when all of our campuses are working and teaching remotely.”
“It is insensitive and unrealistic by the department,” García said in a written statement, adding that requiring cross-examination is “likely to discourage the reproting of campus sexual misconduct incidents by forcing the victim to relive the event.”