Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud on Monday condemned two provisions of proposed Department of Education rules that would force universities to change the way they adjudicate disciplinary proceedings in sexual assault cases.

 In a Monday letter to Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, which was released in a campus-wide email on Tuesday, Syverud expressed concern with proposals to require universities to allow students accused of sexual assault to cross-examine their accusers in live hearings and narrow the definition of sexual harassment.

 Syverud’s comments come as the DoE considers changes to Title IX, a law passed in 1972 that prohibits sex discrimination in schools that receive federal funding.

 Under the proposed changes, parties in disciplinary proceedings would be entitled to legal representation that would be allowed to cross-examine students and other witnesses in a live hearing. If a student doesn’t have a legal adviser, the university must provide one.

“Syracuse University strongly believes that the adjudication procedures in the (proposed rules) would harm students and deter the filing of sexual assault and harassment complaints,” Syverud said in the letter.

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Syverud said private universities have greater flexibility to develop procedures to best serve student interests and fulfill the school’s educational mission. The chancellor said those goals are not served by changing disciplinary hearings into “adversarial trials.”

 The proposed changes would also narrow the definition of sexual harassment. The new language suggests that a single instance of “unwelcome conduct” would not form the basis of a Title IX “sexual harassment” claim, Syverud said. Behavior would only be sanctionable if it was repeated, he added.

“Syracuse University has confronted single, severe instances of harassing behavior in its community that warranted a response and, in some cases, discipline,” Syverud said. “Narrowing the types of conduct actionable under Title IX … may countenance abusive and objectively offensive conduct.”

 Syverud recommended the DoE amend the proposed definition of “sexual harassment” to include behavior that is “severe” or “pervasive.”

 Members of the Chancellor’s Task Force on Sexual and Relationship Violence, the Office of Equal Opportunity, Inclusion and Resolution Services and the Office of the University Counsel reviewed the proposed Title IX changes, according to a campus-wide email from Interim Chief Diversity Officer Keith Alford on Tuesday.

Published on January 29, 2019 at 7:06 pm

Contact Jordan: jmulle01@syr.edu | @jordanmuller18