PORTLAND, Ore. — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced proposed new rules on Friday, aimed at giving the accused a better shot at due process when it comes to on-campus sexual misconduct investigations.
“I look at this as a direct attack against survivors,” said Brenda Tracy, a sexual assault survivor and victim advocate. “The scales have been tipped towards the accused and perpetrators.”
The proposal would redefine sexual harassment from "unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature" to, unwelcome conduct "so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive" it denies equal access to education. DeVos said current guidelines are unfair to the accused, and deprive them of due process.
“This unraveling of justice is shameful, it's wholly un-American," DeVos told our news partner, USA Today.
DeVos' proposal would only require schools to investigate assaults alleged to have happened on campuses or at school events. Right now, 87 percent of students live off campus.
“Oh I'm angry,” said Tracy. “I was gang raped by college football players at an off-campus apartment.”
Under the new rules, an assault victim would have to report their case to a designated Title IX representative, in order to trigger a school investigation. Everyone else—coaches, teachers, maybe someone the victim trusts— wouldn't count.
“Basically, [DeVos] is taking us back to a time where schools could sweep everything under the rug,” said Tracy.
Since 2011, more than 350 accused students have filed suits claiming their schools denied them fair process. The new rules would allow attorneys for both victims and the accused to cross examine.
"I think that by affording students a fair process, it protects not only the due process rights of the accused but also the integrity of the process as a whole," Samantha Harris, with the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education told NBC News.
Friday kicked off a 60-day comment period before the rules will be finalized and become law. Under the Obama administration, the current standards were only created as guidelines.
“Turn in your comments,” said Tracy. “All of our voices matter, we have to push back on this. This is not OK.”