The Daily Northwestern Thursday, November 8, 2018
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Title IX rule shift may affect NU Plans would allow cross-examination by accused By ALAN PEREZ
daily senior staffer @_perezalan_
The federal government is planning to require that schools allow students accused of sexual assault to cross-examine their accusers, a remarkable shift from initial reported drafts of proposed rules and an even wider move away from Obama-era protections for sexual assault survivors. The proposed rule, reported by the Wall Street Journal this week, would make crossexamination a mandatory process for investigations under Title IX, a federal law barring sex discrimination in federally funded schools. Though the latest draft is less accuser-friendly than a previous version leaked in August, schools could facilitate the cross-examination through a neutral third party, The Journal reported. It remains unclear if accusers will have a say in how this process plays out.
An Education Department spokesman declined to comment on the draft, but acknowledged it is drafting the rules to “clarify schools’ obligations under Title IX in redressing sex discrimination, including complaints of sexual harassment, and the procedures by which they must do so.” The report was met with immediate backlash. “The proposed changes will make schools even less safe for survivors and enable more perpetrators to commit sexual assault in schools without consequence,” wrote over 100 survivors of sexual abuse, including former patients of Larry Nassar at Michigan State University, in an open letter to Education Secretary Betsy Devos. Northwestern’s sexual misconduct policies could change significantly under the new policy, just weeks after the University implemented revisions that gave investigators an ambiguous amount of time to close out complaints. The news comes at a time when sexual assault remains a crucial issue on campus. Students have mobilized to » See CROSS, page 6
Alison Albelda/Daily Senior Staffer
ASG’s newly-formed Emergency Funding Committee made recommendations for allocation of emergency funds. Associated Student Government approved of more than $26,000 in emergency funding after student groups were affected by budget cuts.
ASG approves emergency funding Senate to distribute over $26,000 to nine struggling student groups By SNEHA DEY
the daily northwestern @snehadey_
Associated Student Government approved over $26,000 in emergency funding to nine
student groups during Wednesday’s Senate meeting. The move comes after groups were hit by school and departmental budget cuts. The money will come from a separate budget allocation, which ASG says has not been touched
for 14 years. SESP junior Isabel Dobbel, vice president for A-Status Finances, said now is the most appropriate time to use these allocated funds. “As a private institution, we do not really face budget cuts,” Dobbel said. “This really sent everyone
in shock. This money even though it is allocated by ASG, it is the student body’s money and those students into those groups pay into this pool as well and they deserve to use it.” » See SENATE, page 6
Brooks urges political unity NU alum leads Goodwill Think tank president encourages civil discourse
Steve Preston named nonprofit’s CEO last week
By WILSON CHAPMAN
By AVI VARGHESE
Arthur C. Brooks, president of the conservative public policy think tank American Enterprise Institute, doesn’t want everyone to agree with his political views. He wants them to disagree with him. “Together I think we can be the beginning of a new movement in the country, a movement of unity and of harmony,” Brooks said, speaking to an audience of about 80 students and Evanston community members in the Block Museum of Art auditorium. “Not a new country of agreement, because I don’t think agreement is even good. I believe in disagreement. But I believe we can disagree and do it better.” Brooks spoke as part of the Institute for Policy Research’s Distinguished Public Policy Lecture series, which brings researchers and professors in the public policy field to speak at the University. Brooks’ lecture, “Reuniting America in a Time of Extreme Polarization,” aimed
Steve Preston has had a long and winding career. After eight years at Lehman Brothers, three at First Data Corporation and a nearly decade-long tenure at ServiceMaster, Preston was nominated by President George W. Bush as head of the Small Business Administration to clean up after its much-criticized initial response to Hurricane Katrina. His main advice to Northwestern students: focus on developing new skills during college, and maintain that focus throughout their careers. “I would have never known that I was going to start as a banker, go on to be a CFO, run government agencies, run companies and now lead one of the largest not-for-profit organizations in the country,” Preston said. “That’s a path I would have never known I was going to have, but each step that way, I was able to benefit from things that I
daily senior staffer @wilsonchapman10
the daily northwestern @avi_vrghs
David Lee/Daily Senior Staffer
Arthur Brooks speaks at Institute for Policy Research event. The American Enterprise Institute president discussed how to build relationships with people of different political affiliations in a tense and divided time.
to teach the audience what they could each do to bring people together. The biggest problem in American politics — and
Serving the University and Evanston since 1881
what has led to the divide today — is not that people can’t agree, Brooks said, but » See BROOKS, page 6
had learned throughout my prior life.” Preston ( Weinberg ’82) was named as Goodwill International Industries’ next president and CEO last week. He will take over at the nonprofit — which uses revenues from more than 3,300 thrift stores to provide skill development, financial coaching and a variety of other services to job seekers — next January. The 58-year-old spoke with The Daily from Puerto Rico, where he’s been working for Liberty Advisor Group as a consultant to an unnamed “large foundation” that aims to assist in redevelopment efforts after Hurricane Maria struck in 2017. Preston was unanimously voted in as Small Business Administration administrator and headed the agency until 2008, when he was tapped to become Secretary of Housing and Urban Development after Secretary Alphonso Jackson resigned. He left the government sector with the arrival of the Obama administration, returning to corporate life for the next decade.
With his experience from the post-Katrina recovery at the Small Business Administration and his oversight during hurricanes Gustav and Ike, as well as continued post-Katrina efforts to rebuild public housing at HUD, Preston is uniquely positioned to understand the role of both business and government, in what he described as a complex situation with a number of funding sources and pathways. He’s meeting with government officials from Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico as well as other philanthropic organizations and NGOs on the ground to see how the foundation can best assist with the island’s recovery, from housing to power. “The opportunities are massive and multifaceted, so part of this is figuring out where there’s an opportunity to be most effective in driving change for the people of Puerto Rico,” Preston said. At Goodwill, Preston will preside over the company ’s corporate component, which oversees 161 » See PRESTON, page 6
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