If you aren't familiar with who Betsy DeVos is, she is the current United States Secretary of Education, and has been serving in this position since 2017. She is a Michigan native, and the fact that she is still in her position is appalling. DeVos has done nothing but fail students when her job is to support them. I have personally been disgusted by each of DeVos' campaigns, and if you aren't familiar with them yet, let me break down her new Title IX rules for you.

Title IX is a federal civil rights law set in place since 1972 to protect everyone, yes everyone, from sexual discrimination and harassment. If you are a college student, you may be more familiar with the online modules and quizzes you have to take on it to enter your freshman year. Title IX is supposed to protect people, but DeVos has set out to butcher it.

The old guidelines and facts are as follows:

1. Prohibits sexual discrimination in education

2. Applies to all students, regardless of gender identity

3. Schools may not retaliate against students and must keep complainants safe

4. Schools must ensure that victims do not have to share an environment with their abuser

5. Schools can issue no-contact directives to prevent accused students from approaching victims

6. Schools must be proactive in ensuring that the campus is free from sex discrimination

7. Schools cannot discourage you from continuing your education

8. All schools receiving federal funding are subject to Title IX

9. Schools must have an established procedure for dealing with any form of complaint regarding sexual discrimination, harassment and violence

These seem like a pretty good starting point in acting against sexual assault, right?

Well, DeVos made sure to destroy what hope was left for eliminating this form of violence that occurs every single day. DeVos' new guidelines state that schools can now dismiss any complaints that didn't occur on campus, cross-examination can occur (which means that survivors can be questioned by their rapist's family or friends), the sixty-day timeline will be removed (prolonging the already gruesome process and making a mockery of victims), as well as more heinous guidelines.

I think the worst part of DeVos' new rules is that Betsy is, in fact, a woman. One doesn't need to be a sexual assault victim to understand just how wrong these new bullet points are. To tell someone that if their rapist goes to a different school they cannot do anything about it is just wrong. For a school to say that they can only deal with the 'big and important' issues first is a slap in the face.

All assault is important.

Betsy, not only have you disappointed me, but countless young adults are greatly shocked and displeased by your decision to ruin what little guidelines we had in place. It is important to note that these have not gone into place yet, so I am personally hoping that someone catches what a mistake this will be before it is too late. DeVos is not only making a joke out of college rape culture, but she is essentially smacking victims in the face. While the future is very unsure right now, I know one thing is for certain: these new Title IX guidelines are not it.