The May 6 issuing of the Final Rule for schools' Title IX obligations by the Department of Education is alarming. Many of the included provisions are harmful and anti-survivor, going against best practices demonstrated in the past.

Schools will not be expected to investigate more than the most extreme harassment and assault. They will be required to ignore most violence that occurs off-campus, including in off-campus housing or while studying abroad. Live hearings and direct cross-examinations will be required of reporting and responding parties by each of their chosen representatives. Schools will not be required to implement a 60-day investigative period. These changes will discourage survivors from coming forward, perpetuating the chilling effect on the Rollins campus. Sexual violence will go unaddressed. 

Rollins College must be expected to uphold the civil rights of each and every student on campus. There are certain sections of the Final Rule that give universities discretion on how policies are implemented; Rollins College now has a choice as to whether to implement options that create the least harm for survivors. The following is a list of the safest, fairest policies that are legally allowed by the Final Rule:

1. The preponderance of the evidence must be the standard of evidence in all campus sexual misconduct, harassment, and discrimination cases. It is the only standard that values the education of both parties equally.

2. The school must maintain a 60-day time limit for the completion of sexual misconduct, harassment, and discrimination cases, only allowing exceptions for substantial extenuating circumstances. Survivors are emotionally devastated by lengthy investigations, often dropping out before their cases can be completed. Drawn-out timelines are bad for both parties because they leave everyone unsure of where things stand with their schools.

3. Rollins must continue to respond promptly to reports and carry out existing investigations into sexual misconduct during the COVID-19 pandemic, as made clear by the Final Rule. 

4. All students must be guaranteed access to reasonable interim measures regardless of where or when the violence or discrimination took place. Violence and discrimination have serious effects and warrant accommodations for survivors regardless of whether they were harmed on-campus, studying abroad, or in private off-campus housing.

5. Rollins must create and follow sexual misconduct procedures for investigating otherwise not covered instances of off-campus and study abroad violence. The Final Rule does not allow formal Title IX investigations of off-campus violence. However, Rollins can create separate sexual misconduct policies to ensure students can report off-campus violence. It does not matter if you were raped in a dorm room or on a field study; seeing your rapist in class equally affects your education either way. 

6. Rollins must bar the use of informal resolution mechanisms, including but not limited to mediation, in cases of sexual assault, rape, dating and domestic violence, and stalking as an extension of such violence. The wide consensus is that mediation is an inappropriate and potentially unsafe measure in these situations.

7. Rollins must follow the rescinded 2016 guidance from the Department of Education on protecting LGBTQ+ students to ensure all students have equal access to a safe learning environment, regardless of gender identity or sexual orientation.

As a survivor of sexual assault, I know how crucial it is that these seven policies be committed to before an already broken Title IX system becomes even more defunct. Rollins College must be held to the highest standards. The federal government is failing students; it is up to institutions to assume leadership and defend our education by protecting our civil rights. 

The undersigned expect to see Rollins College issue a prompt public statement committing to the seven proposed policies.