Rethinking how we deal with campus sexual assault

Article here. Excerpt:

'As [members of] the 2015 freshman class navigate their first semester, sexual assault at our nation’s colleges and universities remains a topic of serious concern.

The current system of investigating and adjudicating allegations of sexual assault on campus is broken. It does not serve the interests of students, schools or the public.

A recent poll by Penn Schoen Berland found that more than 90 percent of likely voters believe that law enforcement — not colleges and universities — should be responsible for investigating and prosecuting allegations of sexual assault on campus. It is time to bring justice to campus, protect the rights of all students and student organizations, punish perpetrators and ensure a safe college experience for students.
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The current approach is much more likely to result in errors that could harm students for the rest of their lives. In many cases, students are not allowed to review the charges against them, are not permitted access to counsel and cannot cross-examine witnesses or know the status of their cases. Student groups have been subject to blanket bans or suspensions due to the alleged activities of a small number of students.

When a perpetrator has been found guilty by the school, the most serious punishment available is expulsion. But those who commit sexual violence should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. As the Rape, Incest and Abuse National Network wrote to the White House last year, “It would never occur to anyone to leave the adjudication of a murder in the hands of a school’s internal judicial process. Why, then, is it not only common, but expected, for them to do so when it comes to sexual assault?”'