A bill is making its way through the state Senate that, if eventually signed into law, would lay down guidelines for how public and private institutions of higher education in the state should deal with and report on allegations of sexual violence.
Around one in five women are victims of sexual assault while in college, according to the National Institute of Justice.
“We have our parents entrusting to our universities probably the most precious thing in their lives: their kids,” said state Sen. Michael O. Moore, D-Millbury, who introduced the bill.
The legislation, he said, will codify protections for students at the state level.
The bill will get a third reading before it is brought to the floor for a vote. A similar bill passed the Senate last year, but failed to clear the House.
The effort comes amid increasing uncertainty at the federal level after Education Secretary Betsy DeVos announced her intention to revisit, and possibly rescind, Obama-administration campus sexual assault policies. Moore said the legislation is partly meant to keep in place and improve upon current student protections while Devos and her department decide how to enforce Title IX — a 1972 law that protects people from discrimination based on sex.
“If there are any changes on the federal level, if we don’t have any state standards, what are we going to rely on?” Moore said.
Candice Jackson, who heads the federal education department’s Office for Civil Rights, has indicated that she thinks some Title IX investigations have gone too far.
Victim advocates criticized Jackson after she told The New York Times that “90 percent” of all sexual assault allegations on campus “fall into the category of ‘we were both drunk,’ ‘we broke up, and six months later I found myself under a Title IX investigation because she just decided that our last sleeping together was not quite right.’”
Jackson later issued a statement clarifying that her conclusion was based on feedback from cases involving accused students, and that all all sexual harassment and sexual assault must be taken seriously.
Earlier this month, Devos met with victims of sexual violence as well as with those who say they were falsely accused of sexual assault, and her public statements have some worried that the education department will rescind a 2011 guidance letter from the Obama administration that said colleges and universities could lose federal funding if they did not aggressively crack down on sexual misconduct.
Also at issue in that Obama-era guidance is a mandate that college authorities lower the standard they use to find students guilty of sexual violence — from “clear and convincing” evidence to a “preponderance of the evidence” evidence standard.
Under Moore’s proposed legislation, that “preponderance of the evidence” standard would be required in college and university policies on dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault and stalking.
Federal law already requires colleges and universities that take part in federal financial aid programs to disclose information about crime on and around campus.
The Senate bill would go further in what data those institutions have to make available, including how many allegations of sexual violence are made by a student or employee against another student or employee, the number of cases investigated by law enforcement, the number of students found responsible — and not responsible — for violating the institution’s sexual violence policies and how many students were separated from the institution as a result of violating those policies.
“It’s number one requiring that they have it, and two making sure people know they have it,” said state Sen. Eric Lesser, D-Longmeadow, who sits on the Senate’s higher education committee. That information, Lesser said, will allow prospective and current students to see how well a university is handling sexual assaults.
The bill puts forth 16 pages of guidelines for institutions to follow, among them calls for students to be informed about their rights, what the institution’s procedures are and how to receive support and emergency services. Schools would be required to train incoming freshman, staff and employees on policies and expectations.
Some of the bill’s requirements would codify what universities are already doing, while other requirements would go further.
“We’re certainly aware of the legislation and will be taking a look at the specifics,” University of Massachusetts Amherst spokesman Ed Blaguszewski told the Gazette.
UMass Amherst, Blaguszewski said, already trains students and employees, and makes sure students know what their options are when a sexual assault occurs.
“The university places a strong emphasis on education of students to prevent sexual violence, and providing resources and support for students should an incident occur,” Blaguszewski said.
Diana Sutton-Fernandez, who works as chief diversity officer and Title IX coordinator for Hampshire College, told the Gazette last year when Moore’s bill passed that she was excited that Massachusetts was taking sexual violence seriously, but said the college already “has a robust set of policies and procedures.”