Senator Seeks Resignation of OCR Head

July 18, 2017
  • Industry News

Senator Patty Murray, a Washington Democrat and the top Democrat on the Senate education committee, called for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos to remove her top civil rights official because of controversial comments on campus sexual assault last week.

Candice Jackson, the acting assistant secretary for civil rights at the Department of Education, told The New York Times in an interview that 90 percent of campus assault allegations "fall into the category of 'we were both drunk,' 'we broke up, and six months later I found myself under a Title IX investigation because she just decided that our last sleeping together was not quite right.'" Jackson apologized for the comments after backlash from assault survivors and victims' advocates.

Despite that apology, Murray said the comments "crossed a serious line" and revealed a clear bias on the part of Jackson that should disqualify her from a top position at the department.

Read more at Inside Higher Ed: https://www.insidehighered.com/quicktakes/2017/07/18/senator-seeks-resignation-ocr-head