Senator Toby Ann Stavisky, Chair of the Higher Education Committee, condemns the newly released federal regulations on sexual misconduct in education

“I understand how difficult sexual harassment and assault allegations can be to navigate, investigate, prove and punish. It is vitally important that we continue to strive for improving the process on our college and university campuses, to provide due process for the accused while protecting the rights and privacy of the victim.

That being said, I firmly denounce the final regulations on sexual misconduct in education laid out by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos. These guidelines favor the powerful over the powerless, and reopen the door for a predatory campus culture we have spent decades working to eradicate. As Chair of the Higher Education Committee, I am considering the best course of action to make sure New York’s colleges and universities remain advocates for truth, justice and equality for every student we are responsible for protecting.“