To the Editor:
The essay you recently published, “New Title IX Proposal Would Restore Fairness in Sexual-Misconduct Cases” (The Chronicle, November 19), frames the new Title IX proposal as a positive change for survivors of sexual assault and consists of various victim blaming, pro-harassment of survivors, and a misconstruction of the Title IX investigation process that institutions of higher education follow.
We, a group of current student-affairs professionals, want to highlight some specific quotes and explain why they are at issue.
“Thank God for Betsy DeVos.”
This proposal has been criticized by sexual assault survivors, advocates, and Title IX coordinators as being anti-survivor. Saying that we should “Thank God for Betsy DeVos” ignores the negative impact that this proposal will have on survivors.
This also ignores the total harm that DeVos has done to the rights of transgender, gender non-conforming individuals, low-income students, and students of color.
“First, the accusers: In our experience, they don’t always want to punish the accused. That’s because only a small number of these cases that we’ve seen involve allegations of force or even the use of the word ‘no.’ Rather, the vast majority involve people who drank alcohol, used bad judgment, and wound up with deeply conflicted feelings about the whole experience.”
In today’s work, survivor advocates support the notion of an “enthusiastic yes” to show consent rather than the absence of no.
Saying that accusers regret a night of sex and therefore reporting that they have been assaulted is a common argument of men’s rights activists and rapists themselves.
“The new proposed rules would, fortunately, change this. And in so doing, they would return agency to the accuser. Mediation and restorative justice would be on equal footing with a full-blown Title IX investigation.”
Survivors and activists believe that allowing a mediation for sexual assault accusations would pressure survivors to have a mediation where the accused receives no punishment and can continue their life as an assaulter without the label which is a danger to everyone.
The news for the accused is also heartening. First, the new rules would require colleges to permit cross-examination by a party’s adviser — not the parties themselves — in disciplinary hearings. Some are outraged at this, arguing that any such questioning would “retraumatize” accusers. But in a system that places the burden of proof on an accuser — which is how we do things in America — there’s no way around that.
There is an important difference between processes of Title IX investigations in higher education and criminal trials. Having the accuser’s adviser, who can be anyone, ask the survivors questions can and will retraumatize survivors and the questions that the adviser asks have no guidelines and will likely be blaming the survivor for the assault.
“To be sure, this will be hard on accusers — but it should be.”
Why should this be hard on accusers? Why is this author saying that the process should be hard on someone who has be assaulted?
“It will be interesting to see if the University of Virginia decides to lower the burden of proof in honor-code cases to ‘preponderance of the evidence,’ and thus severely undermine its legitimacy, in order to placate campus Title IX activists.”
This isn’t about placating Title IX activists, it’s about getting justice for the survivor.
In a world where sexual assault survivors rarely get justice and the higher-education system has repeatedly intimidated survivors, protected assaulters, and not followed the Title IX process, this essay only does more damage to the Title IX process. The publication of this essay by The Chronicle puts its stance of supporting survivors in question and will be a mark on its reputation. We worry that sexual assault survivors, whether they are students, faculty, or staff, will feel traumatized and unsupported by this article.
Kelsey Murray
Western Oregon University
Monmouth, Ore.
Joe Hahn
Western Oregon University
Tameka Bazile
Rowan University
Glassboro, N.J.
Matthew “MJ” Stewart
Bemidji State University
Bemidji, Minn.