News and Notes: Yale graduate criticizes colleges' sexual misconduct policies

Patrick Witt, a 2012 graduate of Yale, published an article in the Boston Globe Monday in which he criticized Harvard's sexual misconduct policies based on his own experiences at Yale, the Yale Daily News reported.

Witt, formerly a football quarterback and Rhodes Scholar finalist, was the subject of a sexual misconduct complaint filed against him by his ex-girlfriend. The complaint was then leaked, resulting in his expected future employer rescinding its offer of employment, and Witt withdrew his Rhodes scholarship candidacy.

Because the complaint was informal, Witt said, he could not request an independent fact-finding report to clear his name. According to the procedures, an informal complaint may only involve limited investigation, and documentation is kept confidential.

Discussion of Yale’s sexual harassment policies comes amid discussions of sexual harassment policies nationwide. Princeton lowered the standard of proof in sexual assault cases from “clear and convincing evidence,” which requires that 80 percent of the evidence point against the accused, to “preponderance of the evidence,” which requires only that a majority of the evidence point against the accused.