Reviewing the Senate Subcommittee’s Report on Campus Sexual Assault Policies by Will Creeley

Last week, the U.S. Senate Subcommittee on Financial and Contracting Oversight’s Majority Staff released a report (PDF) examining college and university responses to allegations of sexual assault on campus. Commissioned by Senator Claire McCaskill, the report bases its analysis on a survey of 440 institutions conducted earlier this year, also commissioned by Senator McCaskill.

The report provides further evidence of the readily apparent inability of colleges and universities to fairly and effectively adjudicate criminal misconduct, but disappointingly fails to acknowledge the serious due process concerns presented by recent mandates imposed by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). This failing is perhaps unsurprising. FIRE has criticized Senator McCaskill’s recent roundtable discussions regarding sexual assault on campus for failing to include any civil libertarian voices, and the report’s focus is similarly asymmetric.

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