HARRISBURG – “Over the past several months, I have joined with campus safety advocates to express serious concerns about Secretary DeVos and the Department of Education’s plans to protect students on campus. While today’s proposal incorporates a few of the positive changes we fought for, the rules released today remain fundamentally flawed and are a step backward.”
“Among other things, Title IX guarantees all students an education free of sexual harassment and assault, and today’s proposal undermines that fundamental right. These rules are a failure of leadership on the part of Secretary DeVos and the Trump Administration and a betrayal of sexual assault survivors and the advocates who work so tirelessly on their behalf.”
“It’s vital for higher-education institutions to have more tools at their disposal, not fewer, to ensure proper responses to reports of sexual assault. I will continue to fight on behalf of survivors of sexual assault and abuse as this proposal moves through the process, and will not hesitate to take legal action if it is warranted.”
In 2017, when it was first reported that Secretary DeVos and the Department of Education were considering rolling back protections for students under Title IX, Attorney General Shapiro organized a letter signed by a coalition of 20 State Attorneys General to the Secretary expressing serious concerns with the proposal.
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