Families Advocating for Campus Equality Congratulations on your Appointment; Title IX Overreach Families Advocating for Campus Equality Mon, Feb 13, 2017 at 10:54 AM February 13, 2017 Dear Mrs. DeVos, Congratulations on your appointment as Secretary of the United States Department of Education. The organization for which the undersigned serve as Co Presidents, Families Advocating for Campus Equality (FACE), is a 501(c)(3) non profit whose mission is to support and advocate for students accused of sexual misconduct on their college campuses. These students have been forced to endure one-sided disciplinary procedures mandated by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) under the guise of Title IX enforcement. As such, we at FACE look forward to your thorough review of the overreaching and illegally issued campus sexual assault policies adopted under the Obama administration. We at FACE recognize that colleges need to understand their responsibility to protect all students from violence, sexual or otherwise. Many of us have college-age daughters as well as sons, and FACE assists accused students of both genders as well as those with differing sexual orientations and gender identities. We also understand there are frequently diverging perspectives on what occurs when emotion and sexual behavior are involved, especially in the presence of alcohol. However, since FACE's inception just over two years ago we have received calls from hundreds of accused students and their families -- at least 187 in 2016 alone -- all of whom have suffered indescribable trauma as a result of Title IX adjudicatory processes. Their loneliness and loss of hope is palpable; one student described his experience as being alone at the bottom of a deep, dark well with a single match, only to have its flame extinguish. Hopelessness about their future has driven many accused students to attempt suicide; thankfully only a few have succeeded. Almost all, including those found not responsible, have suffered long-term emotional effects indicative of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, including debilitating anxiety and depression, fear and/or avoidance of returning to school and/or romantic engagements, recurrent nightmares, and alcohol and drug abuse -- even years later. Page 1 of 3 facecampusequality.org Mail - Congratulations on your Appointment; Title IX Overreach FACE students’ ongoing emotional trauma is understandable considering that sexual misconduct disciplinary procedures to which they have been subjected are stunning in their irrationality and blatant disregard for basic rules of fairness, equality and justice. For example, in implementing the policies and procedures required by OCR under the Obama administration, campuses consistently deny accused students: the factual details of the complaint against them; access to evidence such as witness statements and reports that may be relied upon in determining their guilt or innocence; a confidential advocate independent of the school who is permitted to actively participate, including legal representation (especially crucial when the school is advised by its own legal team); cross examination of witnesses, whether it be in written or oral form; and the presumption of innocence, by requiring the accused to prove he/she obtained effective, ongoing consent to sex. We ask, in a quest for the truth, what possible justifiable motivation could there be for denying the accused student knowledge of the claims against him/her or in not disclosing relevant evidence to that student? How can an institution of higher education not comprehend the significance of disregarding the presumption of innocence? More importantly, how can such an institution justify using the weight of its expertise and legal authority against an unrepresented, unsophisticated eighteen or nineteen-year-old who is unprepared to mount a defense on his/her own behalf, and frequently unaware of even the need to do so, believing "the truth will set you free"? (John 8:32) Unfortunately, the denial of the fundamental precepts of justice listed above is exacerbated by: the absence of support services for accused students similar to those provided to their accusers -accused students are not equipped to deal with either the legal or emotional ramifications of an accusation, particularly one that may be false; training investigators and adjudicators to “believe the victim” at all costs because false allegations are very rare, and to consider a “victim’s” inconsistent narrative or behavior an indication of trauma, not relevant to credibility; gender-biased policies such as affirmative consent, which presume the male is the initiator of all sexual interactions and impose upon him responsibilities in excess of those imposed on his female counterpart; the more-likely-than-not standard of proof which effectively equates to a coin toss or hunch, especially in the case of non-lawyers -- incredibly, a college president recently justified use of the lower standard by admitting that it is simpler for disciplinary panels to apply because they do not have law enforcement experience (http://watchdog.org/287069/campus-sexual-assault-briefing-1/); complete disregard for the accused's lack of any harmful intent, or his/her honest belief in consent, not only in assessing guilt but also in imposing sanctions, which have a permanent reputation-destroying impact on a student's lifetime educational and career opportunities; and boundary-less definitions of "sexual misconduct" which cover the gamut from begging one's romantic partner for sex or waking him/her up with a kiss, to horrifying acts of sexual violence. Colleges and universities understand the express intent of OCR-imposed policies and procedures is to increase the likelihood of guilty findings -- in fact, a Title IX consultant recently explained: The lower [burden of proof] as articulated in guidance in 2011 by the Office for Civil Rights provides the foundation for a likely outcome of responsibility that will protect survivors of sexual violence ... (http://reason.com/blog/2017/01/31/expert-title-ixguidance-exists-to-depri) We are confident you are aware by now that campuses have implemented these troublesome policies and procedures, which are based on distorted statistics and radical feminist “patriarchal” ideology, in response to political pressure as well as OCR threats to withdraw federal funding and investigate supposedly recalcitrant campuses. OCR adds the Page 2 of 3 facecampusequality.org Mail - Congratulations on your Appointment; Title IX Overreach names of campuses being "investigated" to a public "list of shame” even before OCR has made any finding that the school has violated Title IX. Nevertheless, in March 2016 OCR used that list, which now names over 300 institutions, to justify its budget request for almost 1.4 million dollars in additional funding. Part of FACE's mission is to ensure that campuses implement equitable and transparent processes which include procedures crucial to accurate credibility determinations, responses proportionate to the egregiousness of the conduct, more definitive categories and/or a hierarchy of offenses, and a higher standard by which to determine culpability, particularly when the potential sanctions include suspension or expulsion. We would like you to know that we are available to support you and your team in any way we can in your efforts to repeal and/or replace these misdirected Title IX policies. FACE is the only organization with the unique ability to provide first-hand testimony by those hundreds of students most directly affected by flawed sexual misconduct policies, who have endured what can only be described as the "nightmare" of watching helplessly as years of hard work and dreams of a productive role in society are devastated by overreaching OCR directives. We would appreciate the opportunity to further discuss this with you, and we hope to hear from you soon. Thank you for your time and consideration. Sincerely, Cynthia P Garrett and Alison Scott, Co Presidents Families Advocating for Campus Equality www.facecampusequality.org facecampusequality@gmail.com @FaceCampusEqual _____________________________ The mission of FACE is to advocate for equal treatment and due process for those affected by sexual misconduct allegations on campus and to support those students and their families through outreach and education. Page 3 of 3