Chancellor says SU will ‘meet or exceed’ withdrawn sexual assault guidelines
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Syverud said New York state law still requires schools meet Title IX guidelines that the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights withdrew last month.
UPDATED: Oct. 4, 2017 at 11:50 p.m.
In a campus-wide email sent Wednesday morning, Chancellor Kent Syverud said Syracuse University would continue to uphold New York state sexual assault policies that “meet or exceed” Title IX guidance recently withdrawn by the United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
The announcement from Syverud came more than a week after Education Secretary Betsy DeVos rescinded Obama-era sexual assault guidelines, including a requirement that schools use the lowest standard of proof — “preponderance of the evidence” — when determining an accused student’s responsibility in a sexual assault.
“Although the interim and future guidance may require changes to Syracuse University’s internal procedures, this announcement will not alter our commitment to address and prevent sexual violence,” Syverud said in the email.
New York’s “Enough is Enough” law, which requires schools in the state implement sexual assault policies that meet the withdrawn Title IX guidelines, will remain in place despite the OCR’s decision.
Syverud said the “Enough is Enough” law negates the impacts of the OCR’s announcement on schools in New York.
A New York state audit of SU’s sexual assault response systems found the university was a model for other schools to follow, he added.
CLARIFICATION: In a previous version of this post, the burden of proof for schools determining an accused student’s responsibility in a sexual assault was unclear.
Published on October 4, 2017 at 2:05 pm
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