Betsy DeVos releases final changes to campus sexual assault policies

Article here. Excerpt:

'The Trump administration released new guidelines Wednesday for how universities and K-12 schools should handle complaints of sexual assault and misconduct as part of a contentious overhaul that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos launched in 2017.

Now, under reworked federal rules, alleged student perpetrators will have added protections, including the presumption that they are innocent throughout the disciplinary process and the right to be provided all evidence collected against them. Those students can also cross-examine their accusers and vice versa during live hearings, although it must be done through a lawyer or representative.

The changes, described in a more than 2,000-page document, go into effect on Aug. 14.

They come after the Education Department "heard from too many students whose careers were tarnished by administrators without any resemblance to due process," Kenneth Marcus, the agency's assistant secretary of civil rights, told reporters. "This must stop."

The new rules are a reworking of the 1972 law known as Title IX, which prohibits gender discrimination, including sexual assault, on college campuses as well as in primary and secondary schools.'

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