The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
College sex-assault guidelines replaced
DeVos’ decision leaves women’s groups worried.
WASHINGTON — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos on Friday rescinded controversial Obama-era guidelines that had prodded colleges and universities to more aggressively — critics said too aggressively — investigate campus sexual assaults.
The decision was not a surprise given DeVos’ past criticism of her predecessor’s policy. But it left women’s groups worried that victims of sexual assault will lose protections or face pressure to remain silent.
Supporters of DeVos said the change would lead to greater consideration of the rights of those accused of sexual assaults.
The department said it was withdrawing the Obama administration’s policy,which had been spelled out in a 2011 letter, because of criticism that it placed too much pressure on school administrators, favored alleged victims and lacked due process for those accused. Obama’s Education secretary issued the guidelines under a federal law designed to prevent discrimination on the basis of sex and gender, known as Title IX, and indicated federal funding could be at risk if the department’s recommendations were not followed.
“Those documents have led to the deprivation of rights for many students — both accused students denied fair process and victims denied an adequate resolution of their complaints,” the department’s acting assistant secretary for civil rights,
Candice Jackson, said in a letter Friday.
Advocates for victims complained that DeVos and the department had not spent enough time listening to survivors.
“Survivors are now scared to utilize their schools’ process,” said Sage Carson, project manager for the advocacy organization Know Your IX.
Carson, a survivor herself, said she would have dropped out of school after her assault if not for the Obama guidelines that ensured she didn’t have to see her respondent on campus. The decision to rescind those guidelines was alarming and made too quickly, she said.
The department released a new, temporary question-and-answer statement, replacing one issued by the Obama administration in 2014, to advise colleges and universities on how their responsibilities have changed. It emphasizes providing the same information, rights
and opportunities to both parties in a sexual assault investigation.
David P. Shapiro, a San Diego-based criminal defense attorney who has advocated for people accused of sexual assault, said he welcomed the changes as a way to consider everyone’s rights equally.
“In order to beef up the protections for the accused, it doesn’t need to be at the expense of the accuser,” he said.
Among other things, the new guidelines allow schools to facilitate an informal resolution process if both parties agree, rather than adjudicate every case, as previously required.
The letter also rescinds any suggested timeline for investigations. The former guidance recommended schools reach a decision in about 60 days, something critics said put too much pressure on administrators, particularly in cases that involved scant or conflicting evidence.