Hamilton College has issued a response to the Department of Education’s proposed rule change governing Title IX cases.
In its comments to the DOE, the College said it was concerned the new provisions would be overly burdensome and might inappropriately limit the type and scope of conduct that could be considered under a Title IX policy. Title IX is a federal law passed as part of the Education Amendments of 1972 that protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs that receive federal assistance.
U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos released the department’s proposed rule change on November 16, and it was published 13 days later in the Federal Register. Individuals and organizations interested in commenting on the proposal had until January 30 to respond to the proposed changes.
In addition to submitting its own comments, Hamilton signed on to comments prepared by the New York Six, a consortium of six Upstate New York colleges, as well as a letter submitted by a group of 24 other liberal arts colleges concerned that the proposed rule, if adopted, would undermine the rights of victims and reduce a college’s responsibility for addressing sexual misconduct on campus. The Education Department reportedly proposed the changes to restore fairness to the adjudication process and to add greater protections to those accused of sexual misconduct.
