DEAR Colleague: It’s over! Education Department Rescinds Controversial 2011 Letter
Six years of federal Title IX policy that stripped college students and faculty members of important due process protections and sowed confusion among administrators is finally over. Today, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights announced that the April 4, 2011 “Dear Colleague” letter and an accompanying 2014 guidance document are rescinded. The 2011 letter mandated that colleges use the low, “preponderance of the evidence” standard in adjudicating accusations of sexual misconduct on campus. It also recommended the removal of other critical elements of a fair procedure, such as the right to cross-examination and prohibitions on double jeopardy (being tried for the same accusation twice)…“The campus justice system was and is broken,” said FIRE Executive Director Robert Shibley and author of Twisting Title IX.
