The National Association of Scholars is pleased that the new regulations to implement Title IX are taking effect today, August 14, 2020.
Title IX is the federal law banning sex discrimination at schools receiving federal funds. In recent years, it has been extended to campus sexual misconduct accusations on the grounds that such conduct constitutes sex discrimination.
Unfortunately, many Title IX campus proceedings on such claims skimped on due process and basic fairness to show a school was tough on sexual assault. This hurt hundreds of wrongly accused students and faculty members, who were denied the chance to respond to complaints, the right to confront and question witnesses, and even the right to be presumed innocent.
The new regulations restore balance and fairness to these proceedings, guaranteeing the above due process rights as well as others, and ensuring that case outcomes are both accurate and just, to the benefit of all involved.
Court challenges to the regulations had requested delays in the effective date but courts in New York and the District of Columbia this week denied those requests, confirming that the Trump Administration promulgated the rules fairly and lawfully.
Congratulations to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for tackling this contentious issue, for staying the course and for improving campus Title IX policy and practice.
Photo by Gage Skidmore on Flickr, CC-BY-SA 2.0
