TAKING AIM

Freedom Caucus Urges Trump To Target Campus Rape Rule

Mark Meadows says the 2011 guidelines should be re-examined.

Today, North Carolina GOP Rep. Mark Meadows, incoming chair of the House Freedom Caucus, called for the rollback of the 2011 guidelines that govern how colleges and universities handle sexual assault.

The guidelines, known as the Dear Colleague letter, mandate that colleges apply a lower standard of guilt to sexual assault hearings than the legal system requires in trial. Meadows is asking the incoming Trump administration to examine the rule because he believes it denies due process rights to those accused of sexual assault. He also claims the rule has pressured colleges to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to adhere to the guidelines.

Back in November, we asked a handful of advocates and activists on both sides of the issue what they expected the Trump administration to do with the Dear Colleague letter. All refused to speculate, but, at the time, none said they expected it become an issue during Trump’s first 100 days in office.

—Erin Gloria Ryan