Toward justice on campus

blunt attack on survivors of sexual assault,” hurled a leading women’s advocate.

“An open invitation to colleges to again sweep this epidemic under the rug,” Washington Sen. Patty Murray condemned.

Strange — we could have sworn we heard Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos commit Thursday to do right by victims of rape and other sexual violations on college campuses, and map a road out of the hellscape made by Obama-era guidelines that deputize educators to serve as investigators, judge and jury on what amount to crime reports, leaving victims and accused alike at sea.

The federal law known as Title IX demands nothing less. This, DeVos made clear in a courageous and hotly picketed speech at Virginia’s George Mason College.

Now in its 46th year, Title IX guarantees an education free from discrimination on the basis of gender, and it is DeVos’ sworn duty to enforce it.

“One rape is too many. One assault is too many . . . . Campus sexual misconduct must continue to be confronted head on.”

These are not the words of an assailant’s enabler, as the caricaturists would draw DeVos, but a reformer serious about her intent to do right by victims while respecting the rights of the accused.

She intends to scrap the old standards, not a moment too soon. In 2011, her department instructed college administrators, under threat of losing federal funds, to hold secret tribunals to weigh accusations of sexual assault, find the accused responsible even if the evidence falls short of clear proof — and even where accusations fall into gray areas of confusion over consent — then mete out potentially life-altering discipline.

The result: Hundreds of complaints to the feds about investigations botched or gone overboard, filed by victims and accused alike.

In their place, she announced the Department of Education will put out proposed rules for public review, tapping “institutional knowledge, professional expertise, and the experiences of students to replace the current approach with a workable, effective, and fair system.”

Including, she hinted, in the very best interest of victims, making it easier to involve enforcement and its evidence-gathering powers early on.

Citing fresh ideas from the American Bar Association, trial lawyers and Harvard Law faculty, DeVos has done her homework and will have to produce rules strong and fair enough to withstand the inevitable Title IX court challenges to come.

A public service. Applaud her.