DNC Statement on Potential Department of Education Changes to Campus Sexual Assault Policies

In response to reports of Betsy DeVos considering the change of campus rape policies, and the head of the Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights comment that 90 percent of reported campus sexual assaults “fall into the category of ‘we were both drunk,’” DNC spokesperson Sabrina Singh released the following statement:

“It is truly shameful that Betsy DeVos is willing to roll back protections for survivors of campus sexual assault, and that the top civil rights official at the Department of Education would flippantly dismiss cases of assault as a drunken incident. This tone-deaf rhetoric undermines policies that bolster campus programs and hold universities accountable for the safety of their students.

“As the head of our nation’s education system, DeVos should be working to ensure students are safe in school by increasing resources and programs to end sexual assault on college campuses, and making sure that students who have survived sexual assault have access to essential resources. Instead, DeVos and her staff continue to show that they are uninterested in protecting students across the country. This is the latest, unacceptable example of the Trump administration’s misplaced priorities.”