By Sexual assault and harassment are prevalent on college campuses, and the decision by Secretary of Education Betsy Devos on Sept. 22 to withdraw former President Barack Obama’s letter from Title IX will make it even more so.
The changes to Title IX will make victims of assault less likely to speak up — pausing any reform on sexual violence throughout college campuses.
In 2011, the Obama administration sent the Dear Colleague Letter on Sexual Assault to all colleges receiving federal funding. The letter stated that the result of sexual assault cases should be decided upon “preponderance of evidence,” meaning the decision will be in favor of whichever side has more substantial evidence to support them.
In a criminal trial, there needs to be “evidence beyond a reasonable doubt” for the defendant to be prosecuted. Title IX exists for campuses to help create a safe environment for its students, not launch a criminal investigation. Colleges shouldn’t need “evidence beyond a reasonable doubt.”
If a student feels unsafe and provides enough evidence, then universities should punish the accused with suspension or expulsion.
This is what Title IX defends. Passed in 1972, Title IX states there should be no sexual discrimination in educational institutes receiving federal funding; in this situation, discrimination on the basis of sex includes rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment, so these cases are considered campus investigations under Title IX.
The accusers can then decide for themselves whether they want to file for a criminal investigation, where they will need more evidence to convict the perpetrator.
Removing the guidelines set by the letter will create doubt in students and staff about how to handle they should handle the situation.
It’s difficult to come out as having been sexually assaulted. Often, there are repercussions, such as damaged reputations, being called a liar and unwanted attention when all the victim wants is justice. This retraction will do nothing to circumvent that; instead of acknowledging the difficulties of voicing their assaults, it will remind them that the repercussions are deserved and should be part of the process.
Advocates of Devos’ decision to nullify Obama’s Dear Colleague Letter on Sexual Assault ignore this factor and believe that the letter was too hard on accused students. Two to ten percent of sexual assault cases are falsely reported, according to the National Sexual Violence Resource Center. Yet, the majority of cases are still accurate, and more than half go unreported. One in five women and one in 16 men are sexually assaulted in college, as reported by the center.
By removing the letter from Title IX, students being charged will be given a fair chance to defend themselves. It’s imperative that students are given equal opportunities, even if the cases are campus investigations; however, decisions based on “preponderance of evidence” as stated in 2011 should not be an issue.
Even with the Obama administration’s strict policy, the accused aren’t being punished as much as they should be.
Brock Turner, the Stanford student who was found guilty of sexual assault last year, was only sentenced to six months in prison and three years of probation. He was released from prison after three months.
Luckily, prompted by the Turner case, Governor Jerry Brown signed AB 2888, which states that those convicted of rape and various forms of sexual assault cannot receive probation or have their execution suspended by the court. They must serve mandatory jail time.
If strict laws are supposed to reduce the number of sexual assault cases in college, then Devos shouldn’t be making it easier for the accused to be pardoned. She’ll be rolling back the progress the Obama administration made to make campuses safer.
Without official guidelines to follow, schools need to independently decide how they will deal with future cases. Hopefully they’ll want to protect their students, even if there’s not “evidence beyond a reasonable doubt,” which shouldn’t be necessary in campus investigations.
