This week, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos signaled there would be changes to the Title IX policy for sexual assaults on college campuses that began under the Obama administration. It’s not meant to protect rapists, but the Left blew a gasket. Some viewed the move as an authoritarian move, while others wished that DeVos herself would be raped. Yeah, some reactions were ugly, but it’s not an insane move. It’s one that merely stresses due process of law. You know, like what we’re all afforded under the U.S. Constitution. There were a lot of bogus accusations, which led to lives being destroyed. Even women, who denied being assaulted or abused, told their side of the story to college administrators, they were coerced into believing that they were battered women by the administration. It’s ludicrous. In one case, a male student had evidence that he was the victim of a sexual assault; the school expelled him anyway. Reason has been documenting the insanity that has occurred on college campuses with these allegations that are serious, but the process in which they’ve been handled as of late has raised constitutional questions. Also, in some cases where sexual assault was lobbed, the school opted to tell students to mount their own prosecution:
Stony Brook University
"The current failed system left one student to fend for herself at a university disciplinary hearing," said Devos. "She told her university that another student sexually assaulted her in her dorm room. In turn, her university told her she would have to prosecute the case herself. Without any legal training whatsoever, she had to prepare an opening statement, fix exhibits and find witnesses."
I covered that case here: "College Rape Trials Are Unfair to Men and Women. Here's Why."
[…]
The University of Southern California
"You may have recently read about a disturbing case in California," said DeVos. "It's the story of an athlete, his girlfriend, and the failed system. The couple was described as 'playfully roughhousing,' but a witness thought otherwise and the incident was reported to the university's Title IX coordinator. The young woman repeatedly assured campus officials she had not been abused nor had any misconduct occurred. But because of the failed system, university administrators told her they knew better. They dismissed the young man, her boyfriend, from the football team and expelled him from school. 'When I told the truth,' the young woman said, 'I was stereotyped and was told I must be a 'battered' woman, and that made me feel demeaned and absurdly profiled.'"
Elizabeth Nolan Brown wrote about that one here: "Star-Crossed Student Athletes Torn Apart By Title IX Witchhunt at USC."
[…]
The University of Tennessee
"A student on another campus is under a Title IX investigation for a wrong answer on a quiz," said DeVos. "The question asked the name of the class Lab instructor. The student didn't know the instructor's name, so he made one up—Sarah Jackson—which unbeknownst to him turned out to be the name of a model. He was given a zero and told that his answer was 'inappropriate' because it allegedly objectified the female instructor. He was informed that his answer 'meets the Title IX definition of sexual harassment.' His university opened an investigation without any complainants."
That can't be true. It's just too crazy, right? Wrong. It happened, and I wrote about it here: "Tennessee Student Accused of Sexual Harassment Because He Wrote Instructor's Name Wrong." And I posted a follow-up here: "UT Student Now Being Investigated for Sexual Harassment After Writing His Instructor's Name Wrong."
[…]
Amherst College
A male student was expelled for sexual assault, even though he had credible evidence that his accuser had assaulted him: "Amherst Student Was Expelled for Rape. But He Was Raped, Evidence Shows."
Brandeis University
A gay male student accused his ex-boyfriend of sexual assault. Even though the alleged infractions—a stolen glance in the shower, a wake-up kiss—were incredibly silly, the investigator found the accused responsible for sexual misconduct: "Judge Sides with Gay Brandeis Student Guilty of 'Serious Sexual Transgression' for Kissing Sleeping Boyfriend."
DeVos wiping away Title IX protections for college sexual assault is just the next step on our path to authoritarianism. #StopBetsy
— Amy Siskind (@Amy_Siskind) September 7, 2017
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As you can see, this policy was hurting everyone by preventing true justice from being executed on those who were guilty and punishing those who had done nothing wrong. There is nothing controversial about taking a due process approach on fighting campus sexual assault.
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