KC Johnson has a couple of pieces (see here and here) over at Minding the Campus, where he discusses the US Education Department’s Office of Civil Rights and its recently issued guidelines under which most college campuses must now adjudicate cases involving sexual harassment or sexual assault.
Both of those, as we noted, are serious matters, and genuine cases need to be treated as such. Our problem, however, was the elastic and ever-adaptable definitions of what constituted “harassment.” As KC observes, OCR’s new “guidelines” now stack an already slanted deck even more heavily against the accused. For all intents and purposes, it’s up to you to prove your innocence. And even if you do, well, that may not be sufficient to get you out of hot water. Read his account of the experience of Yale quarterback Patrick Witt if you want exhibit A for this week.
Unfortunately, the New York Times, unchastened by its deplorable handling of the Duke lacrosse case, seems more than eager to run with the ball for the Sexual Harassment Industry, no questions asked. If someone’s accused – especially an athlete – he must be guilty. Doesn’t sound much like investigative reporting, does it?
Believe me, I’ve learned not to ask if things can get any worse where this stuff is concerned.
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