NH Governor Opposed To DeVos School Sex Assault Rules

CONCORD, NH -- New Hampshire Governor Chris Sununu on Monday told U.S. Secretary of Education Besty DeVos he's opposed to new federal regulations for school sex assault and harassment investigations, claiming they could do more harm than good. The new regulations, released Friday, were developed after a year of research based on input from students and school administrators, DeVos said.

"The Department's proposed rule takes the important and historic step of defining sexual harassment under Title IX and what it means for a student to report it, requires schools to respond meaningfully to every report of sexual harassment, and ensures that due process protections are in place for all students," DeVos said in a statement.

Detractors say the sexual harassment definition is too strict and will discourage students from making reports. DeVos said the definition is a balance.

"We can, and must, condemn sexual violence and punish those who perpetrate it, while ensuring a fair grievance process," DeVos said. "Those are not mutually exclusive ideas. They are the very essence of how Americans understand justice to function."

Sununu said he has serious concerns.

"The proposed changes ... could jeopardize protections for victims of sexual harassment and assault," Sununu wrote in a letter to DeVos Monday.

He singled out the new sexual harassment definition.

"This change could have unintended consequences that negatively impact lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students," Sununu wrote. "One of the most common reasons that LGBTQ students do not report incidents of harassment is because they doubt that effective intervention will occur. Narrowing the definition of sexual harassment to only the most severe of cases may have an overly negative effect on LGBT students, many of (whom) are already fearful to report harassment in schools."

The new regulations will be subject to public comment for 60 days.

• U.S. Department of Education Proposed Policy For School Sex Assault, Harassment Reports

This is Sununu's letter to DeVos:

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