Sweeney, Ruiz & Cunningham Condemn DeVos for Dismantling Sexual Assault Safeguards on College Campuses

Trenton – Senate President Steve Sweeney, Senator Sandra Cunningham, chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee, and Senator M. Teresa Ruiz, chair of the Senate Education Committee, issued the following joint statement condemning U. S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for dismantling sexual assault safeguards on college campuses.

“Education Secretary DeVos’ new Title IX guidelines not only weaken the long standing protections for survivors of sexual assault, it is an affront to the traumatic experiences of the survivors. At a time when we should be doing everything in our power to protect survivors, it is unconscionable that Secretary DeVos is working to dismantle them.

“We are supposed to be making progress in protecting women and in giving them the confidence to know that they will be heard.  We are outraged at this action and we will do what is necessary in New Jersey to ensure that young women and men on our college campuses get the resources and protections they deserve. We won’t turn our backs on survivors and we won’t back away from our commitment to this issue.”