Republicans Propose Bill To Protect Fraternities, Ensure Due Process Rights

Dan Regester10 years ago

A bill was introduced to congress Wednesday by Republicans that would ban universities from forcing fraternities to go co-ed, and would strengthen the due process rights for both students and Greek organizations alike. The legislation proposed would prevent campus investigations into sexual assault until the victim reports allegations to law enforcement, as well.

With the support of lobbyist groups like FratPAC, Republicans are pushing the bill to combat campuses from hastily complying with Title IX, rushing the process, and suspending and dismissing students with little evidence. This would also apply to student organizations, not just individuals.

From Inside Higher Ed:

The legislation would require a college to conduct a full discipline hearing before a chapter could be banned from campus. Interim sanctions, such as suspension, during this process could only last 10 days.

The legislation would also prohibit colleges from ordering fraternities and sororities to become coeducational. In September, following a series of alleged sexual assaults, Wesleyan University told its fraternities that they must admit women in the next three years. One of the chapters is suing the university, alleging the order is discriminatory.

The right to due process is one of the fundamental principles this country was built on. Listen, I get that some victims of sexual assault may not feel comfortable going to the police, but only involving student conduct code hearings just isn’t going to cut it with something of this serious nature.

I’m interested to see how this all plays out in the coming weeks..

[via Inside Higher Ed]

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