Due Process and Clarity Suffer in Feds’ Push to Address Campus Sexual Assault

Like many others, I grew up watching the shows produced by Boston PBS megastation WGBH. I was therefore excited to have an op-ed column published by that station today about the due process and clarity problems presented by the recommendations in Tuesday’s report from the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault. The issue of how colleges can or should comply with Title IX is especially important in the Boston area, as Tufts University is currently struggling with the confusing, conflicting, and poorly communicated demands of the federal government when it comes to Title IX issues. As I say in the op-ed:

The government’s latest effort to “clarify” the issue consisted of the task force’s 23-page report, a new website at NotAlone.gov, a 37-page template for “campus climate surveys,” a sexual misconduct policy checklist, a sample confidentiality policy, and, to top it off, a 53-page guidance document from OCR that is supposed to help explain how to apply the 47-page “blueprint” for sexual misconduct procedures promulgated last year as well as the 19-page “Dear Colleague” letter about the subject from 2011. And more documents are promised soon.

Please head over to WGBH for more!