Missouri senator says federal government may be backpedaling on Title IX protections
At a town hall in Tipton, Mo. on Wednesday morning, Missouri Senator Claire McCaskill said the federal government is sending a signal that Title IX protections are no longer a priority.
“Basically they are just sending a message that schools will not need to ever worry about the federal government looking over their shoulder on anything about Title IX,” she said. “That’s not the right message.”
Over the past several years, the Obama Administration worked with college campuses across the country to tighten up those protections for equal opportunity and safety.
President Donald Trump’s proposed budget indicates there will be staffing cuts to the Office of Civil Rights, which handles Title IX investigations.
“Since they have sent signals that this is no longer a priority for them, one would assume this is where they would cut staff,” said McCaskill.
In 2011, former University of Missouri swimmer Sasha Menu Courey claimed she was raped by an MU football player before she took her own life in 2011.
ABC17 News reported at the time that steps taken by Mizzou were not consistent with the government’s guidelines for Title IX.
McCaskill said that since then they have strengthened those protections.
“We’ve really turned the corner on making the process more fair, more transparent and certainly more professional so I would hate to backslide,” she said.
She and fellow senator Kirsten Gillibrand of New York called on Secretary of Education Betsy De Vos this week asking her to reverse a decision made by the Department of Education that, among other things, no longer requires the Office of Civil Rights to review complaints for campus wide problems unless a campus wide problem is alleged in that single complaint.
“We know from all of the evidence that’s come out, that sexual assault on campuses has been a serious problem,” said McCaskill. “That’s what we’re worried about so that’s why we’re trying to pin them down. Why exactly are you doing this and what exactly are you going to stop doing in terms of investigating schools who have not taken their Title IX investigations seriously?”
She said she hopes the department can change the message she said is the wrong one
“Now’s not a time to look the other way and say never mind on campus sexual assault,” she said. “Let’s continue to make the reforms that are in progress because it’ll be fair for everyone; both for the person who’s been assaulted and for the person who’s been accused.”
ABC17 News reached out to Senator Roy Blunt’s office to get his take on the Title IX protection decisions and his office said they will review them and get back to us.
