NEW BILL Aims To Expand Due Process Rights For Students Accused Of Sexual Misconduct
“Title IX is a broken system,” said attorney Joshua Farmer. As schools draft policies to protect survivors, some argue another group has been ignored: the students accused of sexual misconduct. “Its goals are well-intended, but guidance from the federal government is constantly changing.”
That’s led to a central tenet of the debate: whether students accused of sexual misconduct are offered due process by their colleges and universities. Currently, Virginia colleges have policies in place to expunge citations for students who re-enroll in school and return to “good standing.” What Virginia schools don’t have is a way to expunge transcript notations for students who choose to leave a college during a sexual misconduct investigation. There’s currently no state policy that allows universities to remove a notation if a student is suspended and chooses to withdraw from school. That’s the case even if the student meets all the conditions to return to good standing after their suspension. A new bill would offer a path forward. Schools would be required to adopt policies to expunge transcript notations for “good cause shown” after a period of three years.
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