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Fraternities and Sororities Lobby to Move Campus Sexual Assault Investigation from Campus Authorities to Criminal Investigators

10/14/2015

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PictureThe Safe Campus Act, a bill in Congress presently, tries to re-balance the scales of justice for those wrongfully accused. It also tries to keep law enforcement at the forefront of criminal investigations.
National fraternity and sorority groups have hired former Sen. Trent Lott (R-Miss.) to lobby for legislation that would prevent colleges from punishing certain students accused of sexual assault.  Lott is among a group of lobbyists who have collected $140,000 from the "Safe Campus Coalition" so far this year, according to congressional disclosure filings. The coalition is made up of the National Panhellenic Conference, North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC), Kappa Alpha Order, the Alpha Tau Omega fraternity and the Sigma Nu fraternity.

​The full text of the Safe Campus Act can be found by clicking here.

The lobbyists are helping the groups push for the Safe Campus Act, which would restrict colleges from punishing students for sexual assault unless the police are also involved. Other illegal behaviors -- such as theft or physical assault -- would not be held to this requirement. The proposal is uniformly opposed by advocacy and activist groups that work with rape victims. The filings indicate that Lott, now a counsel at the Squire Patton Boggs firm, registered to lobby with the Safe Campus Coalition on April 24. The Safe Campus Coalition has also hired Lott's colleague Kevin O’Neill, an attorney at Squire Patton Boggs and executive director of the Fraternity and Sorority Political Action Committee. 

Lott retired in 2007 as the Senate minority whip, and previously spent several years as the chamber's majority leader. He is a Sigma Nu alum. As a lobbyist, Lott has done work forGazprombank, a Russian bank that was hit with sanctions by the Obama administration, along with Goldman Sachs, Shell oil company and others. Earlier this month, Lott penned an editorial with Cleta Mitchell, a lawyer who served as an adviser to Chi Omega, arguing in favor of the Safe Campus Act. 

The legislation is sponsored by Reps. Matt Salmon (R-Ariz.), Kay Granger (R-Texas) and Pete Sessions (R-Texas). "Ensuring equal justice under law for rape victims is a priority of Congressman Salmon's and he serves as member of the Higher Education subcommittee which oversees these issues," said Tristan Daedalus, a spokesman for Salmon. "He's grateful for the comments and suggestions received from many individuals and groups that have an interest in solving this important issue." Sessions' office said the congressman has "for years worked with stakeholders both inside and outside of the Greek community to improve campus safety for all college students," and the Safe Campus Act reflects that.  The Texas lawmaker is a regular recipient of campaign contributions from the Fraternity and Sorority Political Action Committee, according to campaign finance disclosures. NIC, NPC and the heads of Sigma Nu, Kappa Alpha Order and Alpha Tau Omega did not respond to requests for comment.

Matt Gregory, associate dean of students at Louisiana State University and a former policeman, said it was "short-sighted" to require alleged victims to report to police before schools can take action. "We on campuses have obligations -- not three months from now, not tomorrow, the minute we hear about a report," Gregory said. "That's what keeps me up at night." Jason Casares, director of student ethics at Indiana University and president-elect of the Association for Student Conduct Administration, said the bill would prevent students from reporting to their universities. "I always ask students about an option to report to the police, and many respond that 'If I had to report to police, if I knew it was a requirement, I would not be here,'" Casares said. 

Along with the requirement to notify police before schools can investigate sexual assaults, the bill would allow schools to use whatever standard of evidence they choose in campus adjudications. Currently, when a college holds a hearing to determine if a student accused of sexual assault violated the code of conduct, it's obligated by the U.S. Department of Education to use the "preponderance of evidence" standard. Under this standard, an adjudicator must be 51 percent or more certain the accused is guilty, making it more likely that the student will be found in violation.

In a February phone call, fraternity leaders expressed a desire to strengthen the preponderance of evidence standard. NIC Chairman Buddy Cote suggested the standard should be raised to "beyond a reasonable doubt," or 99 percent certainty, the same level as criminal trials. National fraternity groups planned in the spring to lobby Congress to block colleges from investigating sexual assault cases until a criminal trial was completed. The proposal was denounced by fraternity and sorority members, lawmakers and advocacy groups. Following the backlash, the groups said a week before their lobbyists filed paperwork in April that they would not be lobbying "for or against any specific" congressional proposals.

On July 29, the Safe Campus Act was introduced. NIC and NPC promptly rolled out materialsin favor of the legislation. Fraternity groups boasted that the legislation would address concerns from university professionals groups, and the National District Attorneys Association has said it supports the bill. However, several prominent higher education organizations distanced themselves from the Safe Campus Act immediately after it was introduced. The VTV Family Outreach Foundation, a campus safety group started by the families of victims of the Virginia Tech massacre, decided in late September to formally oppose the bill.  The group had previously said it hoped to work with Salmon's office to rework the legislation, and maintains that it is interested in doing that. But VTV Foundation said it's now officially opposed to the "compulsory process outlined in the bill," and is worried about the proposal to allow schools to change the standard of proof in campus adjudications.

"We also recognize [Salmon's] goal of ensuring that there is due process for the accused, but as introduced the Safe Campus Act would allow institutions to set any standard of proof, whether it be very high or low," said S. Daniel Carter, director of VTV Foundation's 32 National Campus Safety Initiative. "The preponderance of the evidence standard affords significant protections while not making it more difficult than necessary to provide justice on campus." (reprinted for education purposes from the Huffington Post; byline: Tyler Kingkade, Senior Editor/Reporter)

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Fraternity & Sorority Political Action Committee (FSPAC) applauds introduction of The SAFE CAMPUS Act

7/29/2015

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Picture
(WASHINGTON, July 29, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire) -- The SAFE CAMPUS Act, sponsored by Rep. Matt Salmon (R-AZ), Rep. Kay Granger (R-TX), and Rep. Pete Sessions (R-TX), introduces meaningful and much needed reforms to the current system of investigating and adjudicating sexual assault allegations on our nation's college campuses.

"Fraternity and sorority members have been leaders in seeking solutions to the most important issues facing students. Campus safety and preserving a student's constitutional rights on campus are among our top priorities," said FSPAC's Executive Director Kevin O'Neill. "The SAFE CAMPUS Act includes numerous provisions that emphasize improvements in campus safety and engage law enforcement to bring more perpetrators of sexual violence to justice. It enhances the rights of all students in the campus adjudication system and reaffirms the importance of a student's right to be involved with a single-sex campus organization."

The SAFE CAMPUS Act provides rights and protections for everyone on campus. The bill reforms the campus adjudication process to provide all students with due process, increasing transparency and trust in the system. Under SAFE CAMPUS, students affected will have full knowledge of the status of their cases, the charges and evidence, and why decisions were made. The SAFE CAMPUS Act requires that students have access to counsel, are able to cross-examine witnesses, and know the evidence and testimony that is brought against them. It extends due process to student groups on campus so that entire organizations cannot be suspended without cause.

The SAFE CAMPUS Act gives law enforcement an exclusive period of primary jurisdiction to investigate crimes of sexual violence on campus before the school's disciplinary process begins. This will result in a greater likelihood that law enforcement can bring to justice those who commit crimes of physical violence against students and will ultimately help reduce the rate of sexual violence on campus.

The bill arms schools with powerful new interim measures to protect students and ensure those affected by sexual assault can stay in school. It provides students with more education to prevent sexual assault. It also offers safe harbors for students to report sexual assaults without fear of being punished for other violations of school policy.

SAFE CAMPUS also restates the historic exemption of single-sex organizations under Title IX. "Single-sex organizations are one of the great success stories of Title IX," said FSPAC's President Vickie Nixon, "Sororities are the largest women's leadership organizations on college campuses today because of Title IX, and we must resist efforts by those who seek to undermine the obvious value of single-sex organizations on campus."

"Over the past several years, it has become increasingly clear that there is an urgent need to improve the current process of handling sexual assaults on campuses," said FSPAC Executive Director Kevin O'Neill. "We strongly believe that the SAFE CAMPUS Act proposes sound and effective solutions to address the current system's flaws. It ensures that each student and student organization involved in a sexual assault case is treated fairly."

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