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facing the consequences

New York law will now require sexual assault charges to appear on college transcripts

New York will now require student transcripts from any of the state's public and private universities to make note of sexual assault charges, or the expulsion of a student "after a finding of responsibility for a code of conduct violation." Students would have such a mark on their transcripts for at least a year after they completed their suspension, at which point they could file for an appeal to remove the note. Students that try to evade the consequences will receive a note on their transcript saying they "withdrew with conduct charges pending."

This law is part of legislative efforts to both prevent sexual assault and encourage increased reporting of it on college campuses. New York's passage of the law on Wednesday makes it the second state after Virginia to enact such a law. Both California and Maryland have introduced similar legislation.