5 Things to Know About Betsy DeVos, Barack Obama, and Campus Rape
Liberals Opposed to Obama Era Standards
In addition to conservatives, the 2011 "Dear Colleague" letter received criticism from many liberal-leaning groups and politicians.
The American Association of University Professors released a report in 2016 that was largely negative of the Office of Civil Rights mandate and its implementation of Title IX.
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"While successful resolutions of Title IX suits are often represented as unqualified victories in the name of gender equality, this report finds that the current interpretation, implementation, and enforcement of Title IX has compromised the realization of meaningful educational goals that lead to sexually safe campuses," stated the AAUP.
"Since 2011, deployment of Title IX has also imperiled due-process rights and shared governance. This report thus emphasizes that compliance with the letter of the law is no guarantee of justice, gendered or otherwise."
Around the same time, 21 distinguished law professors including Harvard University's Alan Dershowitz signed an open letter accusing the federal government of overreach.
"In pursuing its objectives, however, OCR has unlawfully expanded the nature and scope of institutions' responsibility to address sexual harassment, thereby compelling institutions to choose between fundamental fairness for students and their continued acceptance of federal funding," stated the open letter.
Earlier this month, Democratic Governor Jerry Brown of California vetoed a bill that would have codified the Obama era standards, explaining in his veto message that the former standards may have "unintentionally resulted in some colleges' failure to uphold due process for accused students."
