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Culture War Roundup for the week of May 8, 2023

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Because Title IX has been interpreted to require universities to referee adolescent relationships! Title IX created the problem (via campus administration), and Title IX "fixed" the problem (via the judiciary)

Worse: the requirement was codified by a now-rescinded Dear Colleague letter from the Obama administration requiring schools adopt these policies.

Doesn’t that just require schools to consider rape and other sexual violence, even if it happened off-campus? I think it’s fair to say a frat-house rape is potentially part of the school environment even if said house is not school property.

The problem arises when schools engage with more nebulous definitions of harassment and hostile environments. I’m not seeing where that comes from this letter.

(Though it does predate A Rape on Campus by several years. I wonder when it was rescinded?)

It was rescinded by Betsy DeVos in 2017.

IIRC the controversial "refereeing of adolescent relationships" portion was driven by a requirement to review sexual harassment and sexual assault allegations with a preponderance of evidence (civil) standard, which put school administrators in a position of having to establish parallel judicial systems because an act that didn't meet "beyond a reasonable doubt" in criminal court can absolutely meet a preponderance of evidence.

IMO punishing students with things like expulsion needs higher than a 51% standard of evidence.

That’s a good point. What you’re saying also matches the conversation I remember from my time in school. Preponderance of evidence definitely came up.