Trump Administration Overhauls Title IX Rules for Campus Sexual Assault Cases

The Trump administration has announced new regulations for colleges and universities handling sexual assault accusations, aiming to ensure fairness and equal justice for both accusers and the accused. These rules, developed by the Department of Education, are intended to overhaul campus disciplinary proceedings, which critics have described as "kangaroo courts" that often disadvantage male students.

The initiative seeks to reverse policies enacted during the Obama administration that were perceived as unfairly favoring accusers, often referred to as "survivors," while providing fewer protections for those accused. The new regulations emphasize due process rights for the accused, including the right to confront accusers and a presumption of innocence.

Betsy McCaughey, a former lieutenant governor of New York, argues that the Obama-era directives led to a system where "college males don't get those protections." She points to cases where accused students were publicly named and their reputations damaged, regardless of the outcome, while accusers often remained anonymous. The new rules, according to the administration, are designed to rectify this imbalance.

These changes come as renewed attention is being given to the "Cornell 7" case, where a reopened investigation into sexual assault allegations is underway. The article notes that if indictments result from this case, the accused will be entitled to a fair trial in a court of law, a standard the administration seeks to apply to campus disciplinary actions as well.

The Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights had previously investigated individual institutions under Trump's first term, finding violations at universities like Notre Dame and Ithaca College for failing to provide adequate due process to male students. The department had also moved in 2020 to revise Title IX regulations to ensure equal treatment, efforts that were halted by the Biden administration.

Under the new regulations, colleges and universities that fail to comply with the updated Title IX requirements risk losing federal funding. The administration views these changes as a restoration of "equality under the law," a move that could provide relief for male students facing accusations. McCaughey advocates for Congress to make these reforms permanent to prevent future administrations from reversing them.

![Crowd holding a red banner with "JANE DOE" spelled out in gold letters during a rally in front of a government building.]( "Hundreds of sexual assault survivors and allies gather in solidarity with the "Cornell 7" Jane Doe outside New York Supreme Court on Oct. 8, 2026.")