--- title: Democrats Fight Betsy DeVos' Campus Sexual Assault Guidance description: Democratic lawmakers unveiled legislation to preserve Obama-era Title IX guidelines for investigating cases of sexual assault on campus canonical: https://time.com/4979588/democratic-bill-title-ix-guidance-betsy-devos/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-10-12T20:29:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T17:50:17.611Z article:section: Politics og:title: Democrats Unveil Bill to Fight Betsy DeVos' Campus Sexual Assault Guidelines og:description: After a rollback by the Trump administration og:url: https://time.com/4979588/democratic-bill-title-ix-guidance-betsy-devos/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt69ce1beae2fccbb2/6988e1c90a4a22eb329d04e3/gettyimages-634272092.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Newly Sworn-In Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Addresses Staff At The Education Department og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Democrats Unveil Bill to Fight Betsy DeVos' Campus Sexual Assault Guidelines twitter:description: After a rollback by the Trump administration twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt69ce1beae2fccbb2/6988e1c90a4a22eb329d04e3/gettyimages-634272092.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Democrats Unveil Bill to Fight Betsy DeVos' Campus Sexual Assault Guidelines  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Oct 12, 2017 8:29 PM UTC  Education Secretary Betsy DeVos delivers remarks to employees on her first day on the job at the Department of Education February 8, 2017 in Washington, DC. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos delivers remarks to employees on her first day on the job at the Department of Education February 8, 2017 in Washington, DC.Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Oct 12, 2017 8:29 PM UTC Democratic lawmakers on Thursday unveiled legislation to preserve strict Obama-era Title IX guidelines for investigating cases of sexual assault on campus, fighting a [rollback by the Trump Administration](http://time.com/4953325/betsy-devos-obama-campus-sex-assault-guidelines/). Education Secretary [Betsy DeVos](http://time.com/4931796/betsy-devos-title-ix-sexual-assault/) last month [rescinded the controversial guidance,](http://time.com/4953325/betsy-devos-obama-campus-sex-assault-guidelines/) drawing [fierce criticism](http://time.com/4954158/betsy-devos-title-ix-sexual-assault-guidelines/) from victims’ advocates, who argue the change will further discourage victims from reporting assault, and praise from groups representing [accused students](http://time.com/4857377/betsy-devos-campus-sexual-assault-meeting/), who say the [Obama-era guidelines](https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201104.html) created a one-sided system. At a press conference for the bill on Thursday, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi called DeVos’ policy “an alarming reminder of the White House’s dismissive and cruel attitude toward survivors and students.” The bill is sure to face opposition from Republicans and from advocacy groups that have argued the Obama-era guidelines failed to protect the due process rights of accused students. Introduced by California Rep. Jackie Speier, the bill would instruct schools to use the “[preponderance of evidence](https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/preponderance%5Fof%5Fthe%5Fevidence)” standard in campus sexual assault investigations. That was one of the most controversial parts of the Obama Administration’s Title IX [guidance](https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201104.html), because it requires a lower burden of proof than the “[clear and convincing evidence](https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/clear%5Fand%5Fconvincing%5Fevidence)” standard. DeVos’ interim guidance now allows universities to decide which standard of evidence to use in their investigations. Speier on Thursday defended the “preponderance of evidence” standard, which is used in civil trials. “Isn’t this a civil right? To be able to go to school and not be subjected to violence,” she said. In a [speech](http://time.com/4932283/betsy-devos-title-ix-sexual-assault-speech-transcript/) about the issue last month, DeVos described campus investigations as a system that “has failed too many students,” referring to victims as well as students who say they were falsely accused. “One rape is one too many, one assault is one too many,” DeVos said. “One person denied due process is one too many. This conversation may be uncomfortable, but we must have it. It is our moral obligation to get this right.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4979588/democratic-bill-title-ix-guidance-betsy-devos/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4979588/democratic-bill-title-ix-guidance-betsy-devos/"},"headline":"Democrats Unveil Bill to Fight Betsy DeVos' Campus Sexual Assault Guidelines","datePublished":"2017-10-12T20:29:12.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T17:50:17.611Z","description":"After a rollback by the Trump administration","url":"https://time.com/4979588/democratic-bill-title-ix-guidance-betsy-devos/","keywords":["Education","Congress","Sexual Assault","College","campus sexual assault","onetime","Betsy DeVos"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt69ce1beae2fccbb2/6988e1c90a4a22eb329d04e3/gettyimages-634272092.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt69ce1beae2fccbb2/6988e1c90a4a22eb329d04e3/gettyimages-634272092.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Newly Sworn-In Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Addresses Staff At The Education Department","caption":"Newly Sworn-In Education Secretary Betsy DeVos Addresses Staff At The Education Department","creditText":"Chip Somodevilla—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/education/","name":"Education"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4979588/democratic-bill-title-ix-guidance-betsy-devos/","name":"Democrats Unveil Bill to Fight Betsy DeVos' Campus Sexual Assault Guidelines"}}]}] ```