Dive Brief:
- Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), chairman of the regulatory affairs subcommittee, sent a letter to Acting Education Secretary John B. King Jr., arguing that the U.S. Department of Education went around regulatory processes to increase the burden on colleges in their response to sexual assault allegations.
- The Washington Post reports Lankford sees the Dear Colleague letters of 2010 and 2011 that outlined college and university responsibilities relating to sexual assault as “improperly issued guidance,” exceeding the department’s authority.
- Dear Colleague letters are meant to help agencies interpret existing regulation, but Lankford argues the 2010 and 2011 letters created changes that are closer to new regulation than a clarification of existing law.
Dive Insight:
The Dear Colleague letters Lankford is referring to created a sea change in the way colleges and universities prevent sexual assault and harassment and respond to allegations of such violence on their campuses. They have had their fair share of critics in the last five years, especially as the number of complaints to the Office of Civil Rights over the way colleges and universities have handled their responsibilities has continued to grow. Many schools are at a loss as to how they can respect the rights of both parties to whom they are responsible.
Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act is sure to come with additional policies from Congress about campus safety, though there are competing proposals from legislators about the best path forward.