Betsy DeVos is reportedly preparing new college sexual misconduct rules tilted toward the accused

Betsy DeVos.
(Image credit: Olivier Douliery-Pool/Getty Images)

Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is preparing new policies that would offer more support to students accused of sexual assault and harassment on campus and reduce liability for colleges, The New York Times reports.

The Times obtained a copy of the proposed rules, which would redefine sexual harassment as "unwelcome conduct on the basis of sex that is so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it denies a person access to the school's education program or activity." Colleges would only have to investigate claims of misconduct that took place on their campuses, and schools would be tasked with launching investigations that provide "prompt and equitable" resolutions and begin "under the presumption that the accused is innocent until proved guilty," the Times reports.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.