Good afternoon, my name is Susan Stewart and I am the Director, State Legislative Initiative for SAVE: Stop Abusive and Violent Environments. SAVE is a national organization working at both the federal and state level for fairness and due process on college campuses. I am testifying in opposition to SB 19.

Since the 2011 Dear Colleague Letter was issued by the federal Department of Education, SAVE has found there has been an explosion of both complaints by identified victims and lawsuits by accused students. For example, one University of Alabama student named Shannon said, “The assault was bad, but the way my school has treated me has created more trauma than the original assault did.” In the past nine years, over 550 lawsuits have been filed against universities for their alleged mishandling of these cases.

SAVE created a list of the Top 25 Worst Colleges in the Nation for Campus Due Process. Shockingly, two universities in Connecticut made our list: Quinnipiac University and Yale University.

In Doe v Quinnipiac, Doe claimed Quinnipiac opened a complaint against him “on behalf” of a student who herself did not file a complaint, destroyed evidence and subjected him to a 7-hour hearing where they banned exculpatory witnesses.

In Montague v Yale: Jack Montague claimed Yale violated its own procedures, committed fraud when administrators tried to convince the woman to file a formal complaint, and allowed the administrator who had tried to convince the woman, to chair the hearing board.

In fact, Connecticut may be the worst state in the nation for campus fairness. There are also these other compelling cases: the Nikki Yovino Sacred Heart University case, the case against Yale by Saif Kahn who is now suing Yale for $110 million and most recently two damning judicial decisions against UConn for violating students’ constitutional rights. District Judge Michael Shea wrote, “UConn’s procedures for investigating alleged misconduct and imposing discipline are so one-sided that the accused was denied an opportunity to present a meaningful defense.”

I oppose SB 19 for the following reasons: First, SB 19 includes an immunity clause for drinking and drug use which states “a student …who reports or discloses the alleged assault…shall not be subject to disciplinary actions for violation of a policy of the institution… if the report or disclosure was made in good faith..” This wording encourages false allegations. What happens when the institution determines that the report was not made in good faith?

Second, SB 19 establishes a Council on Sexual Misconduct Climate Survey, which includes 16 members and not one member represents students who have been accused of sexual misconduct. It calls for three representatives of victims of sexual assault, and not one representative of accused students. Why not?

Third, SB 19 requires the development of a sexual misconduct climate survey. Climate surveys are known to be expensive, difficult to administer, yield unreliable statistics and have fundamental problems. They do not lead to safer campuses. For example, in 2017 the results of one climate survey showed a shocking 41% of undergraduate women reported experiencing sexual assault since enrolling at the university. If that were true, what parents in their right minds would send their daughter to that school? Climate surveys are used to argue for policy change that potentially impedes on students’ due process rights.

For these reasons, I oppose SB 19. Connecticut lawmakers continue to propose or pass legislation that encourages false allegations or ultimately impedes students’ due process rights. Universities follow these laws resulting in mistreatment of both alleged victims and accused students with the ultimate outcome of more lawsuits against the universities!

SB 19 would trample on fairness, and perpetuate campus Kangaroo Courts. It is not the answer to a serious issue plaguing Connecticut’s higher educational system.

Thank you for your time and attention.