PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP IS WORKING TO PROTECT STUDENTS FROM SEXUAL MISCONDUCT AND RESTORE FAIRNESS AND DUE PROCESS TO OUR CAMPUSES

Office of the Press Secretary FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 6, 2020 PRESIDENT DONALD J. TRUMP IS WORKING TO PROTECT STUDENTS FROM SEXUAL MISCONDUCT AND RESTORE FAIRNESS AND DUE PROCESS TO OUR CAMPUSES “With today’s action and every action to come, the Trump administration will fight for America’s students.” – President Donald J. Trump   TAKING HISTORIC ACTION: President Donald J. Trump is ensuring that all students are safe to learn and achieve without facing sexual harassment and sexual assault in our Nation’s schools. Today, the Department of Education is issuing a final regulation to strengthen Title IX protections for survivors of sexual misconduct and fight sex misconduct in schools. For the first time in history, the new regulation will codify that sexual harassment, including sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking, is prohibited under Title IX. This new regulation will hold schools accountable for failures to respond equitably and promptly to incidents of sexual misconduct. The action also empowers survivors to make decisions about how a school responds to incidents of sexual harassment. This rulemaking follows years of wide-ranging research, careful deliberation, and careful input from stakeholders — including survivors— and over 124,000 public comments. ENSURING EVEN-HANDED JUSTICE: The President’s new rules will also ensure that schools can no longer inflict longstanding harm against students before providing basic, fair procedures. Today’s final regulation will also provide due process protections to students facing accusations of sexual misconduct. Bureaucracy created in our Nation’s institutions of higher education have often stacked the deck against the accused, failing to offer protections such as a presumption of innocence or adequate ability to rebut allegations. The regulation prescribes a transparent grievance process that treats the accused as innocent until proven guilty, requires the school to state a standard of evidence, and requires the school to provide a written decision and rationale. Recognizing that colleges often fail to provide due process, Federal courts reviewing campus adjudications have stepped in to issue more than 100 decisions favorable to the accused. Today’s protections will legitimize the process and support survivors, including by ensuring that final findings of responsibility are credible. MAKING OUR SCHOOLS SAFER: The Trump Administration is working every day to protect America’s students and survivors of sexual misconduct. Under the President’s leadership, the Department of Education has aggressively worked to hold schools accountable for sexual harassment in their education programs and activities. Already, the Trump Administration has required sweeping reforms at educational institutions, including Michigan State University, Pennsylvania State University, the University of Southern California, and Chicago Public Schools. The Department of Education has led implementation of Every Student Succeeds Act rules that prohibit elementary and secondary school district administrators from shifting from one school to another employees who sexually abuse students. Over the last three years, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has closed a total of 172 sexual violence cases with change, a 375 percent increase over the prior 8 years.