Sexual Assault on College Campuses

Sexual assault is a frequent topic on the news and social media. As you can see from the title, I specifically want to address the occurrence of this crime on college campuses. Yesterday I read a discussion on Room for Debate where two journalists stated their opinions on how colleges handle sexual assault cases. According to Nancy Chi Cantalupo, "schools cannot enforce criminal laws, but they do have responsibilities under Title IX." Schools can't convict a person of a crime, but they are required to address these problems if they inhibit students from learning. The education of these victims are affected. Therefore, cases like these become a matter for school administration.

Unlike law enforcement, schools don't have the authority to subpoena and compel evidence. In order to "maintain access to federal funds," the colleges "must adjudicate evidence of sexual violence using the "preponderance of the evidence" standard," in the words of John Villasenor. That means if the defendant is found more than 50% likely to have committed the crime, he/she is declared guilty. Villasenor finds fault in this type of judgment. Even if the accused is deemed 49% NOT likely to have committed the crime, they are still found guilty.  Although the cases are civil trials and the verdicts reached don't incarcerate the defendants, a guilty verdict can still impact a person's life. It would make it difficult to get accepted into another school or find a job, even if they were falsely found guilty.

On the other hand, this type of assessment makes it easier for the victims of these crimes to get the justice they deserve. Everyone has the right to receive their education with out worrying about harassment. This right is protected under Title IX which is "one of the civil rights statutes that guarantees equal educational opportunity to all students in U.S. schools" (Cantalupo). These victims aren't required to establish a stack of evidence against the defendants, however, they need to provide enough evidence to prove the defendant is over 50% guilty.
People believe that requiring less evidence in civil cases than in criminal court makes it easier to incriminate innocent people. What do you think? Assuming that the majority if not all of us plan on attending college after high school, this type of system may impact us in the future. Is this an efficient way of handling sexual assault cases on college campuses? Do you think past situations prove that this system is beneficial or harmful?

-Aijah Johnson