On Tuesday, as parts of its effort to reauthorize the Higher Education Act, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee held a hearing on campus sexual assault and steps to ensure student safety and rights. The HEA sets policy on a broad range of higher education issues such as accreditation, financial aid, and accountability. The hearing specifically looked at existing law, such as provided by the Clery Act, which is supposed to provide transparency around campus crime policies and statistics. The hearing delved in the requirements of due process as well as the definition of sexual assault/harassment, and the impact that the location of an incident (on campus versus off) has on on reporting. The hearing also touched on recent steps by the Department of Education that would impact Title IX.
Panelists included Patricia Howl (Conrad O'Brien), Fatima Goss Graves (National Women's Law Center), Jeannie Gersen (Harvard Law School), Ann Meehan (American Council on Education) and Jeff Howard (East Tennessee State University). Some of the more interesting thoughts shared included the need for federal government definitions of sexual assault/harassment, timely reaction to reported incidents, procedural fairness for both sides and preservation of a student's ability to address a sexual assault even if it has occurred off campus.
HEA reauthorization will continue to move forward on parallel tracks in the House and Senate.
