DeVos accused the Obama administration of “weaponizing” a broad definition of “sexual assault” to punish students VIDEO
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced on Thursday that there would be major policy changes to Obama-era guidances regarding sexual assault on college campuses, making clear that President Donald Trump’s administration would seek to protect both victims and those who are accused equally. “Through intimidation and coercion, the failed system has clearly pushed schools to overreach, ” DeVos during her address at George Mason University. “With the heavy hand of Washington tipping the balance of her scale, the sad reality is that Lady Justice is not blind on campuses today.” DeVos accused the Obama administration of “weaponizing” the Office of Civil Rights to “work against schools and against students, ” while calling out schools who employ such a broad definition of “sexual assault” to punish students and faculty for “simply for speaking their minds or teaching their classes.” To ensure “students are not charged by school-based tribunals on the basis of hearsay or incomplete evidence, ” DeVos called for a “Regional Center model” to investigate and adjudicate allegations of campus sexual assault. According to one, 1 in 5 women experiences sexual assault in college. “The rights of one person can never be paramount to the rights of another, ” she insisted, pointing to a handful of lawsuits filed by those who claim they were unjustly punished for sexual misconduct on campus. “ [N] o student should be forced to sue their way to due process, ” she added. DeVos quickly received criticism from advocates for assault victims, such as the National Women’s Law Center. In a statement, the organization said DeVos’s plan to rewrite campus sexual assault guidelines were “a blunt attack on survivors of sexual assault, ” according to the New York Times. “This is another cruel, heartless move from the Discrimination Administration, ” Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, said in a statement. “President Trump and Secretary DeVos are inviting schools to return to the days when survivors were shamed, blamed, ignored, and abandoned. Make no mistake: Title IX is working, and the only reason for this move is to legitimize discrimination and promote dangerous myths about rape.”
