By: Miya Medina
Coming changes to Title IX causes confusion and a call of action at Dominican.
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has introduced a draft version of new rules to Title IX, a federal civil rights law that forbids discrimination on their basis of sex in educational institutions and programs that receives federal funding.
Title IX issued clarification in the 1990s that it is required for schools to respond quickly and efficiently to reports of sexual harassment and sexual violence on their campuses.
During the Obama administration, more awareness was brought on the steep incline of rape on campus. Hundreds of investigations were launched to look into how schools were handling reports of sexual violence on their campuses. Many schools had moved forward in making it easier for people to report their assault to authorities. Officers were appointed to file formal complaints and evidence laws no longer relied heavily on the amount like it did before. There was a jump in victims bringing their stories to light and trying to receive justice.
However, the Trump administration is trying to roll back the former administration’s work and propose some new policies.
DeVos’ new rules include a decrease in schools’ responsibility to deal with cases. This means that school administrators may no longer have to take cases that did not happen on school ground even if it was their students involved. They also have returned to requiring that evidence must be “clear and convincing” meaning that the evidence is “highly and substantially more likely to be true than untrue” according to Cornell Law School.
Photo Courtesy: Cory Morse/ The Grand Rapids Press via AP
According to Chief Diversity Officer Sheila Radford-Hill, “Last year, the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) housed within the Department of Education (DOE) withdrew existing 2011 and 2014 Title IX guidance. DOE issued an interim document that outlined what we should. This guidance was confusing.”
Dominican issued a statement saying that they would continue doing what they have always been doing until a final guidance was released.
Radford-Hill believes that there are four main points that will be contained in the final regulations: the modification of the standard of proof needed to find someone responsible for sexual assault, mediation may become an appropriate alternative to a full investigation for sexual assault, loosening of the timeline for completing investigations, and limiting the right to appeal a finding.
For now, Dominican is choosing to continue with the policies introduced under the Obama administration.
Radford-Hill said, “As the Title IX Coordinator, I am responsible to ensure that Dominican makes a good-faith effort to conduct investigations in a fair and thorough manner. DU is committed to protecting victim/survivors with culturally responsible and trauma-informed services, and finally, when the unthinkable happens, DU wants to respond with timely and appropriate interventions and interim measures and with full investigations, where appropriate.”
It is important to remember that there are ways to fight for a safer education, write your school administrators, call your representatives, vote in the upcoming elections. Intervene if you see something happening and offer support to those affected around you. Remember that change begins with the youth.
