Summary
For colleges across the country, including Stanford, the future of Title IX is uncertain as the Trump administration seeks to radically alter many of the guidelines that governed college campus sexual assault cases under former President Barack Obama.
On Sept. 22, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos officially revoked part of a policy set out by President Obama’s Education Department, giving colleges more discretion in how they handle allegations of sexual assault. DeVos’ department is currently gathering feedback on Title IX before formulating more permanent policies.
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“A ‘Dear Colleague’ letter [from the Obama administration] wreaked havoc and injustice all over the country, and it’s time to have some balance,” said Michael McConnell, Richard and Frances Mallery Professor of Law. “Without any deliberation or consultation with affected parties, the ‘Dear Colleague’ letter forced universities all across the country to adopt roles for these cases that essentially disregarded the due process concern for accused students.”
McConnell predicted, however, that universities will not change their current sexual assault policies in any significant way simply because DeVos rescinded the “Dear Colleague” letter and the rules it outlined.
“My guess is that the Department of Education will need to be more prescriptive about the due process protections that are necessary,” McConnell said.
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McConnell believes that in order to follow the Title IX law, ensuring that sexual assault survivors receive justice should not be the University’s only concern.
“To exactly the same extent that inadequate protections against sexual assault is a Title IX discrimination problem for women students, that denial of due process is sort of the mirror image for male students, and Title IX prohibits discrimination,” McConnell said. “It’s a statue that requires evenhandedness, not bias.”
McConnell added that Stanford’s current Title IX process achieves “evenhandedness” to a greater degree than some of its peer institutions, citing Stanford’s definition of sexual assault, which some like Pham have criticized as too narrow.
“Stanford has been more measured and more careful in some respects than at least some other universities have been,” McConnell said. “Stanford, unlike some universities, has drawn a distinction between sexual assault and other forms of sexual misconduct, and that is an important distinction.”
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