Breaking: Faculty approves recommendations on handling of sexual assault cases
Daily Princetonian Staff and Anna WindemuthUniversity faculty members unanimously voted to approve a set of recommendations on the handling of sexual misconduct by the Faculty Advisory Committee on Policy this afternoon. The four major changes inaugurated through the vote are to allow equal rights of appeal to both the accuser and those found guilty, to remove student presence from the adjudication panel, toreduce the burden of proof for sexual assault cases from “clear and persuasive” to “preponderance of evidence” and to allow both complainants and respondents to appoint an adviser from outside the University community. These changes take into account legislation from the Clery Act, the Violence Against Women Act and Title IX, a law prohibiting sex-based discrimination in educational institutions that receive federal funds.The University is currently one of the 55 institutions underinvestigation for violating Title IX. Although a motion to postpone the vote and allow additional discussion time received some support from faculty members, who filled the ranks of Nassau Hall on Monday afternoon, Dean of the Faculty Deborah Prentice said that the University was under time pressure to comply with explicit legal demands made by the Office for Civil Rights over the summer. “We truly believe that these are very good, positive and compliant changes to our procedures,” she explained, saying they were very carefully thought out by the FACP.
