Ben Shapiro, a right-wing commentator and editor-in-chief of The Daily Wire, recently tweeted about the release of the final changes to the Title IX guidelines by Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos. He supports the change, citing the sexual assault allegations against Presidential Candidate Joe Biden as an example of why. He claim that under the previous guidelines, Biden would not receive due process if he was in college and accused. This sparks a conversation about the new guidelines—why were they changed, who wanted them changed and what do these changes mean for survivors of sexual assault?
The main issue that DeVos and many others had with Obama’s Title IX guidelines was they believed the accused were not being protected or given due process. Critics of Obama’s guidelines said they led to schools “suspending or expelling students for sexual contact that occurred when everyone involved was drunk and incapable of clearly remembering what had happened.” While Obama’s guidelines are far from perfect, they are far better when it comes to fighting sexual assault than the new ones.
Those who sought this change felt the Obama guidelines put dangerous pressure on universities to investigate claims that may be false accusations. Investigations were supposed to be conducted within 90 days, so cases could have one sole investigator or close without a hearing.
DeVos claims her guidelines are fair, but they actually protect the accused by taking away rights and protections from survivors. In her cross-examinations, the accused is allowed to meet face-to-face with their accuser. Schools only have to investigate complaints made to “an official who has the authority to institute corrective measures,” which include staff and faculty but exclude RAs and other positions that are not able to “institute corrective measures.” Schools will not be responsible for investigating complaints if the events occurred on non-school property, even if students were involved.
Another flaw is the groups DeVos spoke to when drafting these guidelines. These groups represent those who say they “are falsely accused of sexual assault” and seek due process for those individuals under investigation.
DeVos spoke with the NCFM, or National Coalition For Men, who claim the media has a bias that is anti-male and believes that “feminist groups not only downplay the statistical reality of false accusations but also have been eroding the due process rights of the accused, especially on college campuses and in the military.” While DeVos spoke to survivors and their advocacy groups as well, her choice to confer with groups like NCFM is appalling and destroys the credibility of the guidelines.
Often, these groups reference the 2007 Duke University lacrosse team case. Three team members were charged with raping a stripper they hired for a team party. However, the charges were dropped after the stripper confessed that she falsely accused the team members. After the allegations were brought up, there was a rush by many in the media, public and prosecution team to automatically call the Duke students guilty.
Even though the Duke University case did not occur under the Obama administration, the case is still used as an example by the “pro-accused” groups. However, this is an anomaly. College women are more than twice as likely to be sexually assaulted than robbed, and only 80 percent of cases are reported to law enforcement. It is more likely that cases with outcomes similar to Brock Turner’s, a Stanford Swimmer who was released from prison early after sexually assaulting an unconscious woman, will occur than false accusations.
These Title IX changes will undo the work of many brave survivors such as those running and supporting the @wecanDUbetter and the national @thedobettercampaign movement. Instead of making a more beneficial or streamlined system to help survivors or those wrongly accused, these guidelines send the message that sexual assault is permissible on college campuses without repercussions.
To see a full list of @wecanDUbetter’s grievances with the new guidelines, visit their website here.
