Obama, Biden Will Boycott Colleges with Bad Sexual Assault Records
Does the White House know what the Education Department is doing?
The Obama administration has announced new sanctions against universities that fail to address sexual assault in the manner dictated by the federal government: no visits from President Obama, Vice President Biden, or other Cabinet members.
That's according to White House officials, who say a college's "insufficient seriousness" toward rape on campus will now be disqualifying. The Washington Post reports:
According to White House officials, top members of the administration — including the president, the vice president, their wives and members of the Cabinet — will not visit institutions whose leaders they consider insufficiently serious about pursuing sexual-assault allegations and punishing perpetrators. Biden said in an interview that he would like the federal government to "take away their money" if a college or university fails to change its ways.
As the administration nears its end, the urgency of some proposals has dissipated, but the focus on campus sexual misconduct has intensified: "Now's the time to put the pedal to the metal," Biden said.
It isn't explained what criteria the White House will use to determine whether specific universities are doing enough. If it relies on the Education Department's guidance, hundreds of campuses would be subject to the boycott. The Office for Civil Rights is currently investigating more than 200 colleges for failing to discipline accused rapists. Of course, OCR is also forcing colleges to adopt policies that violate the due process rights.
Is the president aware of the illiberal steps his Education Department is taking to address the campus sexual assault problem? Is he at least aware of the controversy? Does he know that OCR has overstepped its bounds, provoking lawsuits? I honesty have no idea.
In any case, Biden should be happy to know that the federal government has already threatened to deny federal funding to educational institutions that give insufficient attention to sexual assault.
