WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-Md.), a cosponsor of the bipartisan Campus Accountability and Safety Act (S. 856), released the following statement regarding Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’ release of the Department’s proposed Title IX Enforcement Rule.

“Since her confirmation hearing, Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos has failed to understand her role in protecting a student’s constitutionally guaranteed right to an education. Despite the 2016 Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Statistics report that 1 in 5 female undergraduate students experience a sexual assault in college, the Secretary’s proposed rule weakens the existing protections for victims and allows universities to roll back their responsibilities. The federal government should be holding colleges accountable and establishing guidelines that ensure victims are not re-traumatized when reporting an assault,” said Senator Cardin.                                                 

“I find it difficult to believe that this administration has the best interest of survivors in mind when it was Secretary DeVos who last year moved to shrink the scope of investigations conducted by the Office of Civil Rights. I urge Secretary DeVos and President Donald Trump to protect America’s students by reaffirming the Obama Administration Title IX sexual assault guidance.”

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