WASHINGTON _ Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said Thursday that she plans to review some of the controversial Obama-era guidelines that have prodded colleges and universities to more aggressively _ some say too aggressively _ investigate campus sexual assaults.
But during a speech at George Mason University in Virginia, DeVos stopped short of relaxing the policy, as some expected she might. She said the department would begin a notice and comment period to gather information and evidence to overhaul the guidelines.
"The current system hasn't won widespread support, nor has it inspired confidence in its so-called judgment," DeVos said. "Our interest is in exploring all alternatives."
Women's groups fear that if the guidelines are changed, victims of sexual assault will lose protections or face pressure to remain silent. Others say a revised policy could lead to a process that also considers the rights of those accused.
DeVos announced early in her tenure that she would re-evaluate the 2011 guidelines that President Barack Obama put in place. Her review came amid complaints that students who were accused of sexual assault were not granted due process and were battling a system designed to presuppose they were guilty.
"The failed policy has pushed schools to overreach," DeVos said.
DeVos, one of Trump's most divisive Cabinet members, already has rescinded Obama-era protections for transgender students and relaxed some requirements regarding how her department investigates complaints about schools' handling of sexual assault cases.
The process will put an end to the "era of rule by letter," DeVos said, referring to letters sent to schools during the Obama administration offering guidance for how colleges should handle cases of sexual assault. DeVos was not clear about which specific letters would be up for review.
As DeVos spoke, chants from a group of about 30 protesters outside the building punctuated her silences with phrases such as "Shame on you" and "Stop supporting rapists."
"I have concerns that she's even talking about rescinding it (the guidance). ... It makes rapists and assaulters feel safer," said Amy Crummie, a sophomore at George Mason who partially blocked the hallway leading to the conference room where DeVos was scheduled to speak in order to slow people as they entered.
