By\u00a0ABRAHAM LONCKE\u00a0News Editor
\nJanuary 21, 2019<\/p>\n
Following the Department of Education\u2019s recent proposed changes to Title IX, students and organizers conversed and crafted comments on Saturday at a \u201ccomment party,\u201d co-hosted by the Title IX office and the Commission on Women and Gender Equity in Academia.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is an opportunity for students to come in and make sure that they know what those [proposed] changes look like,\u201d Assistant Director of Education Outreach for the Title IX office T Street said. \u201cThere\u2019s some areas that we would like to be clarified and we wanted to make sure students had a platform on campus to come in and see that I am available to help answer questions about their suggestions.\u201d<\/p>\n
In November 2018, Secretary Betsy DeVos and the Department of Education released proposed changes to Title IX, with intentions of improving the current school policy on sexual assault and harassment nationwide.<\/p>\n
Changes on Active Avoidance Orders, cross-examination, and the definition of sexual assault and harassment were some of the central topics in DeVos\u2019 proposal heavily discussed at the comment party.<\/p>\n
Most attendees worked in one large group, rallying and refining ideas, but others decided to work independently after some conversation.<\/p>\n
\u201cI just felt we were doing a lot of talking and not a lot of acting,\u201d sophomore Anna Remus said. \u201cIt was very relevant to have a discussion, but I feel like I know what I want to say and I\u2019m ready to say it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The comment period for the proposed Title IX changes is 60 days after the publication date. Due to the ongoing government shutdown there has been some delay to this time, and the current deadline is Jan. 28.<\/p>\n
Many attendees had issues with the combination of poor advertisement and inconvenient time frame for the comment period, but did extensive work and research to comment regardless.<\/p>\n
\u201c[The comment] period was overlapping with our reading [period] and our finals week and break. [I] wouldn\u2019t have time to do research, read the 144 page document, or even a summary and do enough research to put in a proper comment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Senior Austin Ponce had similar comments to make, emphasizing the advertisement of the Title IX proposed changes.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think that a larger issue is perhaps a lot of people aren\u2019t even aware that the Department of Education is soliciting the comments in this period,\u201d Ponce said. \u201cThey don\u2019t seem to be actively inviting feedback.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ponce added that despite any problems caused by the time slot of the comment period, people are trying to make a difference in whatever way they can.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the end of the day politics is local,\u201d Ponce said. \u201cEven if the Department of Education and current administration do not want to hear what we have to say or have no interest in implementing [\u2026] on [our] questions and concerns, we can at the very least try to make an impact here on campus.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By\u00a0ABRAHAM LONCKE\u00a0News Editor January 21, 2019 Following the Department of Education\u2019s recent proposed changes to Title IX, students and organizers conversed and crafted comments on Saturday at a \u201ccomment party,\u201d…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5396","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-updates"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n