SECRETARY OF Education Betsy DeVos this fall weakened laws that make campuses safer places for students to live and learn—particularly protections from sexual harassment. “[T]he system established by the prior administration,” DeVos said, “has failed too many students.”
DeVos is targeting Title IX, the landmark 1972 legislation to prevent gender-based discrimination in college athletics. Over time, Title IX was strengthened by the addition of the Jeanne Clery Act, a federal mandate requiring schools to be more transparent about their handling of sexual-assault cases and more proactive in efforts to change campus attitudes regarding predatory behavior.
Most controversial of these additions was the Campus Sexual Violence Act, a 2013 update that broadened the Clery Act to include all forms of sexual violence, including stalking, dating violence, and other such behavior. In 2011 and 2014, during the Obama era, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights elevated and regularized the standard of evidence required by universities receiving federal funds in how they respond to sexual assault allegations—a move that provided students greater protection and a more-transparent process.
After months of dropping hints, DeVos, an evangelical Christian, rescinded the Obama-era standards in September, returning “choice” to universities in how they handle sexual assault allegations, lowering the standard of evidence, removing time limits for resolving cases, and potentially opening the door to endless appeals by the accused while closing the appeals process to the accuser. Her argument is that this “interim guidance” will eventually be replaced by new federal regulations.
Advocacy groups for accused students rejoiced, claiming that the Obama-era policies skewed toward complainants—even though less than one-third of students found responsible for sexual assaults were expelled.
Christian colleges have remained oddly silent about DeVos’ moves. Since the inception of Title IX, at least 38 of them have asked for and received exemptions from the policy. Others have refused government funds, citing (rightly) that lack of federal money equals lack of responsibility for compliance.
Many schools—Christian and secular—have taken it upon themselves to develop sexual assault policies that provide safety, justice, and appropriate transparency on their campuses, policies that meet the federal standards and go beyond. In many cases, these are student-led efforts.
Centre College, a Presbyterian-affiliated liberal arts school in Kentucky, has created an online Sexual Misconduct and Assault Reporting Tool (SMART) to make a potentially intimidating reporting process clearer and easier. Students at North Park University, a Christian school in Chicago, have staged guerilla art installations about sexual assault and assisted in rewriting aspects of the student handbook as it pertains to sexual misconduct and abuse of power.
These efforts are important for reframing the conversation around gender-based violence and misogyny. But they cannot replace strong federal policy.
Christian colleges can model leadership by embracing transparency and accountability. After all, there is a biblical mandate for doing so. In Matthew 10, Jesus tells his disciples, “nothing is concealed that will not be uncovered, or hidden that will not be made known.” This applies to sexual assault and attempts to cover it up.
Christian institutions of higher learning ought to be places where students do not have to weigh their experiences of harassment or assault against their school’s concern for its reputation, where all are understood to be whole and holy in God’s sight, and where violent or aggressive behavior is dealt with smartly, swiftly, and appropriately. That’s what Christian witness looks like.
If the Trump administration dismantles Title IX, colleges and universities will be faced with a choice: protect vulnerable students or promote a system of higher education in which boys become men and men become Harvey Weinstein.
Faith-Marie Zamblé is an artist, writer, and M.F.A. candidate in dramaturgy and dramatic criticism at the Yale School of Drama. This is her final "Curated" column (for now).
Got something to say about what you're reading? We value your feedback!