In the midst of a sexual misconduct societal awakening in Hollywood and around the country, Betsy Devos has yet again proven her position as secretary of education as not “well deserved” by challenging Title IX.

Title IX is a federal law that must be followed by any educational institution to ensure funding by the American government. It specifically prohibits any harassment or discrimination based on sex or gender.

Any Los Angeles United School District student or employee can make a sexual harassment complaint. Sexual harassment includes verbal (vulgar comments), visual (written material) and physical (unwanted touching.) All complaints are handled and taken with the proper and expected neutrality. The punishments for sexual harassment are suspension or expulsion.  

LAUSD’s handle on sexual misconduct is relatively in the best state it has ever been, but if Devos takes any further action, high schools will not be affected but higher education settings will. This brings a danger to students who have already applied to colleges and those awaiting transition when the time comes.  

Devos’s proposed changes to Title IX are all in favor of the accused with the protection of their civil liberty of their right to due process. This wouldn’t help victims in any way. Although the right to due process is constitutional, the matter of a specific sexual misconduct report, in an educational environment is immensely intricate. The push to make a report more traumatizing than it is, is unprincipled.

The strength to come forward and express an unwanted event is unknowingly brave and substantial that the action of elongating the process of “justice” is unnecessary and re-victimization due to most reports being hearsay.

If a report needs to be made the proper steps taken are important but simple. One must write or verbally advocate by informing a campus administrator or the school’s designated Title IX Complaint Manager.

Administrators are decently sufficient with every compliant made with sexual harassment but it isn’t clearly made who the proper Title IX Complaint Manager is. With the low enrollment rate, other methods are available such as the anonymous hotline on Jupiter Ed, which gives students a way to relay any type of concern.