I’ll admit it. Just talking about Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos makes my blood boil. I am incensed that DeVos, with no expertise or interest in public education, now designs and implements policy for public schools. Infuriated that under her short tenure, the Department of Education is most well-known for its misspellings. Notably the press release misspelling renowned scholar W.E.B. Du Bois’ name and then in an apology, misspelling the word apologies. I was embarrassed for her when she confused segregated schools with school choice. And now, I’m angry that DeVos will determine protections for victims of campus sexual assault. Angry because I know she just doesn’t get it.
She doesn’t get that the Obama administration’s Title IX policies gave rape and assault victims a way to fight back, and to make colleges take the issue seriously. When Secretary DeVos recently announced a proposal that undermines or eliminates some of those guidelines, victims and their supporters spoke out about losing an effective tool to pressure universities to bring campus sexual assault out in the open.
I know it's naive, but I just can’t get my head around a woman working against the best interests of mostly female campus assault victims. But, then again, long before Secretary Betsy DeVos headed the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, rich patron DeVos championed the cause of those accused of sexual assault. Her $10,000 to the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education sponsored the group’s fight against the Obama reforms. And a few weeks ago, her Assistant Education Secretary Candice E. Jackson,explained to the New York Times that most accusations on college campuses “fall into the category of 'we were both drunk.'”
I’m disgusted that Secretary DeVos’ proposal may give those identified as perpetrators a chance to escape accountability and/or punishment. To be clear, I am equally disgusted by women (and men) who falsely accuse. Not only do those lies mark and humiliate the innocent, but they make it much harder for real assault victims to be heard and believed.
Some former critics of Secretary DeVos are actually offering cautious optimism about this proposal. Harvard Law’s Jeannie Suk Gersen told the Slate website DeVos was “proceeding exactly as an agency head should.” Gersen and others say Title IX would be fairer if there were improvements such as the standard of proof for assault and advocates for the accused.
That makes sense, and maybe I’d be more open if Secretary DeVos didn’t have such a robust detailed history demonstrating little empathy for victims. Instead, she’s supported men claiming they were falsely accused, and met with men’s activists who deny campus sexual assault cases are real. Given that, DeVos’ statement that “one rape is too many, one assault is one too many” sounds hollow. I don’t trust or expect her to offer more than lip service. For the sake of the young victims who’ve been wounded beyond measure, I hope I’m wrong.
