Harvard Law Professors Speak Out Against School's New Sexual Assault Policy, Students Respond
ByA group of 28 professors at Harvard Law School collaborated to make a public statement calling the school's new sexual assault policy biased against the accused.
The faculty group published an op-ed in the Boston Globe Wednesday and called for the Ivy League institution to make another change to the policy. The faculty group also said the school's Title IX compliance office is not and cannot be considered "structurally partial."
"We strongly endorse the importance of protecting our students from sexual misconduct and providing an educational environment free from the sexual and other harassment that can diminish educational opportunity," they wrote. "But we believe that this particular sexual harassment policy adopted by Harvard will do more harm than good.
According to the Huffington Post, a student group called Our Harvard Can Do Better responded to the op-ed with a statement of their own.
"In sharp contrast to the professors' claims, Harvard's new policy is the first intermediate step we have seen from the administration to address their federally mandated obligation to place an equal burden on the respondent - that is, alleged perpetrator - and complainant - that is, survivor - during the investigation and resolution process," it read. "The new university policy affords complainant and respondent equal opportunity to present evidence to investigators and review and comment upon the investigative reports. In fact, it continues to advise respondents of their right to seek outside legal counsel without similar advisories for complainants."
Harvard Law and Harvard College are both under federal Title IX investigations for allegedly mishandling sexual assault cases. If found in violation of the gender equity law or of the Clery Act, a law requiring transparency with campus crimes, the schools could be fined up to $35,000 per violation.
Our Harvard recently teamed up with two other student groups, Harvard Students Demand Respect and Graduate Students Advocating for Gender Equality, to create a petition calling for the school to adopt an affirmative consent sexual assault policy.
California passed their own "Yes Means Yes" bill and a draft of a similar piece of legislation was recently filed in New Hampshire.