Dive Brief:
- Georgia State Rep. Earl Ehrhart is suing the U.S. Department of Education, calling its guidance on sexual assault and harassment unconstitutional and saying the guidance has forced public schools to spend taxpayer dollars unnecessarily.
- The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports Ehrhart names Secretary of Education John King, the Office of Civil Rights, and Assistant Secretary Catherine Lhamon in the lawsuit, with his wife joins him as a plaintiff because she fears her son at Georgia Tech could be in danger of being unfairly treated in a future sexual assault case.
- Ehrhart takes issue with the way the guidance has prompted major changes in the way colleges and universities interpret existing law and respond to sexual assault allegations, specifically because of the threat of lost federal funding.
Dive Insight:
Since the department issued its 2011 Dear Colleague letters about sexual assault and educational institutions’ responsibilities under Title IX, students have filed hundreds of complaints, saying their civil rights are being violated on campus. Lawmakers have opposed the changes because they say they were brought about by federal overreach, rather than their own bills. Colleges and universities have chafed against the additional responsibility, with some arguing they are simply not equipped to adjudicate such serious allegations between students. Following a particularly scathing review of the University of New Mexico by the Department of Justice, President Robert Frank lamented the high standards the federal government holds schools to, outside of their primary missions, with no extra money to comply.
Students accused of sexual assault have won a string of cases by arguing their due process rights were violated in the rush to wrap up campus investigations. This presents a new challenge for colleges and universities searching for a balance between meeting the needs of victims and the accused.