By now, I’m sure many of you reading this are aware of whom President Trump selected for his cabinet to serve as Secretary of Education — Betsy DeVos.

In her confirmation hearing, DeVos was pressed by Democratic senators on all things education — because… obviously.

I’ll preface this by saying that for myself, a sexual assault survivor, my deepest and main concern with a nominee like DeVos and her lack of experience in the field of education was her knowledge, or lack thereof, Title IX.

In an intense nutshell, Title IX is a federal law that states regardless of gender, no person enrolled in an institution with federal funding shall be discriminated against. In 2011, the “Dear Colleague Letter” (DCL) was established, which explains to educational institutions how the Department of Education will deal with Title IX complaints and how sexual violence is a responsibility of the educational institution.

Title IX states:

No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.

(Source: www.knowyourix.org)

Activist organizations like Know Your IX and End Rape On Campus launched a campaign called #DearBetsy, which showed their support for Title IX and the work that has been done to combat campus sexual assault in recent years. The campaign, which includes a petition that you can sign in support, can be found here.

So, without further adieu, #DearBetsy,

Title IX protected myself and others when no one else could or would. Please, think before you act on this one. Realize this harsh reality: one in five women are sexually assaulted during their time in college. Title IX enables survivors to seek out the resources they need. Title IX protects survivors. Title IX, again, helped me when no one else was capable. Title IX was there for me on the days I couldn’t get out of bed and had to miss class. Title IX was there when I needed assistance with academic related affairs. Title IX allowed me to focus on healing. Title IX allowed me to have flexibility within my rigorous 18-hour course load after my assault happened. Please, do not take that away. For those who will enter college in the next few years, I hope and pray that should they experience sexual assault or sexual discrimination of any kind, they will have the same resources and rights that I did,and that so many others did.

And myself, along with so many others, will fight to ensure they do.

More information may be found at endrapeoncampus.org/dearbetsy/#petition