No, I will not retract that title because it is the objective truth of the matter.
As you may be aware, back in 2011, the Obama Administration set out new guidelines for how schools that receive federal funding are to address allegations of sexual harassment and assault. The Trump Administration's Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos (who, to date, has spent only a matter of hours in the public school system lifetime total, none of which has been dedicated to conversing with students) has recently rescinded these Obama-era guidelines and set out new ones in their place, which can go into effect without Congressional approval. Here are a few of the interesting highlights:
-No actions alleged to have taken place off-campus (such as at a fraternity house or off-campus bar or off-campus housing, for example) will require redress by the school anymore.
-Schools will now be allowed to replace the existing evidentiary standard of "preponderance of evidence" where the proof offered shows it was more likely than not the correct version of events with a new, much higher standard of "clear and convincing evidence". Where the former standard places the accused and the alleged victim on equal footing, this new optional standard skews the evidentiary burden strongly in favor of the accused, as things like sexual harassment and assault can be almost impossible to absolutely prove beyond any doubt at all.
-Alleged perpetrators will now be allowed to cross-examine their accuser(s). This is particularly offensive to me in that the whole point of such proceedings, from the perspective of the survivor, is to try and ensure that future contact with their abuser(s) will not occur, so that they can feel safe again on campus rather than be potentially retraumatized by encountering their abuser again and again.
-The use of mediation to reach informal resolution between the parties, which protects institutions by only holding them accountable for "formal complaints".
-The definition of sexual harassment will be severely narrowed from "unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature" to "unwelcome conduct on the basis of sex that is so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it denies a person access to the school's education program or activity".
-The new guidelines also, in an unprecedented move, explicitly say that an institution's treatment of an alleged assailant could also constitute sex discrimination.
As we can see, there is a rather one-sided nature to these changes in guidelines for how schools that receive federal funds are to treat allegations of sexual harassment and sexual violence: all of the changes favor the accused and institutions. It's hard to say that that isn't tantamount to sweeping these issues under the rug and intentionally discouraging survivors from reporting. In a context wherein, among other things, 1 in 5 female college students and 1 in 16 male college students reports experiencing sexual assault while in college, one would think that the Secretary of Education might have different priorities.