Education Secretary Betsy DeVos released interim guidance Friday on how colleges should handle sexual assaults on college campuses, the latest step in the Trump administration’s controversial rollback of Obama-era guidelines, in an effort to better protect both victims and students who are accused.
The agency withdrew a 2011 “Dear Colleague” letter that required schools to adopt a minimal standard of proof — the preponderance-of-the-evidence standard — when disciplining students and replaced a 2014 question-and-answer document on how schools should investigate and adjudicate cases of sexual misconduct.
The temporary guidance is meant to serve as a placeholder while the agency crafts news guidance with a new standard through a rulemaking process that involves public notice and comment.
Senior department officials said it was inappropriate for the former administration to mandate schools use the preponderance-of-the-evidence standard without public input.
Read more at The Hill: https://thehill.com/regulation/administration/351889-education-department-rescinds-obama-era-school-sexual-assault
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