Last week, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced that her department will review the guidance on campus sexual assault that had been issued by the Obama administration, “citing concerns that the current policy denies due process to individuals accused.”
The announcement was greeted with reactions both expected and unexpected.
In the Wall Street Journal, KC Johnson and Stuart Taylor Jr. wrote that “Mrs. DeVos made clear her determination to enforce Title IX fairly—to combat the new normal of discrimination against accused students as well as any residual discrimination against accusers.”
In the Washington Post, columnist Ruth Marcus writes “I find myself in the unexpected position of writing not to lambaste DeVos but to praise her, albeit tentatively and preliminarily, for announcing plans to rework the department’s approach to Title IX, the federal law prohibiting gender discrimination at educational institutions.”
Several analysts have cited a new article by R. Shep Melnick, “Rethinking Federal Regulation of Sexual Harassment,” which analyzes the issues involved.
— Education Next