Families Advocating for Campus Equality Agrees that Sexual Assault Procedures Need Revision; Victim Protections Not Threatened by Reform Efforts

Washington, DC, July 24, 2017 --(PR.com)-- Families Advocating for Campus Equality (FACE) commends the New York Times for publishing an Op Ed last Friday by respected journalist Cathy Young disputing the false narrative that FACE and Department of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos seek to weaken protections under Title IX for victims of sexual assault.

FACE, a nonprofit Ms. Young cites as having been “unfairly tarred with the extremist brush,” has both sought and welcomed opportunities to work with other interested stakeholders, including victims’ rights advocates and Title IX administrators, to preserve all students’ rights to a discrimination-free education. Unfortunately, some victims’ advocate organizations, ambitious politicians, and incautious media sources have further “tarred” FACE by repeating the myth that FACE would like the Education Department to “roll back” campus sexual assault victim protections or cease enforcing civil rights laws.

"Nothing could be further from the truth," says Cynthia Garrett, Co President of FACE.

FACE is committed to ensuring a balanced and impartial disciplinary process regardless of a student’s gender, sexual orientation or gender identity. FACE members are parents of daughters as well as sons. FACE has worked “across partisan lines and professional silos – to help colleges address a complex problem that doesn’t start or end at their gates.” Represented recently on an American Bar Association (ABA) Criminal Justice Section Task Force whose members included victims’ advocates and campus administrators, FACE participated in developing a series of procedural recommendations which every member of the Task Force agreed would help protect the Title IX and civil rights of complainants and respondents alike.

FACE is heartened that publications generally known for their understandable emphasis on victims’ rights have recently presented a more balanced perspective on the Title IX issue. These include The Washington Post which reported accurately that FACE is not interested in infringing upon victims’ civil rights, the Huffington Post, whose recent headline read “Department Of Education Must Seek To Balance The Rights Of Both Survivors And The Accused,” and The Boston Globe, which published a piece admitting that “schools are in some cases punishing students for sexual encounters that - however disconcerting, upsetting, or regrettable participants deemed them to be afterward - were entirely consensual when they occurred.”

FACE’s mission is to protect all students, and, as exemplified by numerous lawsuits generated by campuses’ mishandling of Title IX complaints, the status quo fails both parties in these matters.

Let’s work together to find a better solution.