DeVos proposals for campus sex misconduct rules are 'worse than we thought,' victims' advocates say

"It will return schools to a time where rape, assault and harassment were swept under the rug," said an advocacy group for sexual assault survivors.

Nov. 16, 2018 / 4:46 PM EST
By Erik Ortiz

Earlier this month, 80 people who said they were sexually abused by one of three doctors — Larry Nassar of Michigan State University, George Tyndall of the University of Southern California and Richard Strauss of Ohio State University — sent a letter to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos with a unified message: Don't give schools more control over how they investigate sexual assault allegations.

"The proposed changes will make schools even less safe for survivors and enable more perpetrators to commit sexual assault in schools without consequence," read the letter, which included names of women who attended the three schools.

(Nassar is serving a de facto life sentence after pleading guilty to sexual assault and child pornography charges; Tyndall has denied any allegations and has not been charged with a crime; and Strauss died in 2005 before he could be properly investigated.)

On Friday, following months of anticipation, DeVos released her proposal for how cases of sexual assault and misconduct should be handled, noting that "every survivor of sexual violence must be taken seriously, and every student accused of sexual misconduct must know that guilt is not predetermined."

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