The drums of war in the land of academia held by progressives are beating once again against Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos after she declared at a recent press conference that “the era of rule by letter is over.”
Depending on the source, sexual assaults on college campuses are either on a significant climb or are being highly exaggerated. The change in mindset and a new attitude towards Title IX, however, is focused on something the Obama-era “Dear College Letter” failed to do, treating men and women as equals instead of forging the myth of rampant gender inequality with regard to sexual assault cases. What various outlets have picked up on in the last five years is that a large number of Title IX sexual assault cases were handled in either an extremely sloppy manner, or were just outright discriminatory towards men. It’s not just angry and frustrated men stating this, it’s women too.
In 2016 at Colorado State University-Pueblo, a male athlete was suspended after having consensual sex with a female trainer, whose colleagues reported to Title IX authorities after spotting a hickey on the woman’s neck, indicating to them possible abuse even though the woman stated on the record “I’m fine and I wasn’t raped.” This is a story that has been heard far too often, and the continuing of “kangaroo courts” targeting men is backfiring against feminist-progressives as it creates the notion that women are incapable of being able to consent to sexual activity without being coerced. Even Time magazine reported on a study that showed that 90% of campus sexual assaults amount to “we were both drunk.”
While Devos’ speech continued to place an emphasis on confronting existing sexual assaults on college campuses while trying to reform the system, progressives still tried to find a way to tie DeVos to the fringe Men’s Rights movement in order to discredit her, ignoring the fact that many women (and even some liberal professors) are fighting on behalf of men who have been silenced and abused by the system.