Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers has rejected the University of Wisconsin System’s Title IX changes, as the Democratic Party continues its crusade against due process protections for students accused of sexual assault on college campuses.
The UW System was looking to comply with the changes to Title IX standards made by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, which must be in place by Aug. 14. Evers earlier this month had Wisconsin join in a lawsuit against the Title IX changes, along with 17 other blue and swing states with Democratic governors, including North Carolina and Michigan. Joe Biden has openly said he would reverse DeVos’s changes if he were elected in November. The move would strip away due process from college students accused of sexual misconduct. This often destroys students’ futures while opening up universities to big financial settlements in lawsuits.
The UW System is familiar with such lawsuits. University of Wisconsin football player Quintez Cephus sued the university in 2018 over his expulsion. Cephus had been accused of sexually assaulting two female students in an encounter he said was consensual. Cephus was brought up on criminal charges and said the university’s separate hearing could harm his criminal defense. He only dropped his lawsuit right before his criminal trial, believing he would be vindicated there (which he was). The university readmitted him shortly after he was found not guilty.
The University of Wisconsin got off a lot easier than most. While many cases are sealed to protect those who have been falsely accused (or to salve a university’s pride), some numbers end up going public. Clemson University had to shell out $100,000 in a settlement to a student in 2018. And in 2019, it was revealed that Michigan State split $1.2 million between the accuser and the accused after a botched disciplinary process that ended up clearing accused football player Keith Mumphery of wrongdoing.
In all, over 150 students have won related lawsuits against universities since the Obama administration’s Dear Colleague letter that first weakened due process protections on college campuses. Evers, Biden, and the Democratic Party would take colleges back to those lax standards of evidence, under which Biden himself would almost certainly be found guilty of raping Tara Reade.
Congress could quickly rectify this issue, but the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives wouldn’t allow it to happen anyway. So for now, due process rights hang in the balance of the 2020 election.
