A small group of protesters gathered Thursday on the campus of George Washington University, voicing their support for transgender students and victims of sexual assault before an appearance by Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
“We’re here to show up for survivors of sexual violence and for transgender students who are being harmed by her policies,” said Eve Zhurbinskiy, a 21-year-old GWU senior. “And we’re here to advocate and hold her accountable for a stronger Title IX.”
The demonstration came about a week after the Trump administration withdrew Obama-era guidance on how colleges should respond to campus sexual violence. That decision, which will affect cases that deal with the anti-discrimination law known as Title IX, fulfilled a pledge DeVos had made earlier this month.
DeVos was at George Washington for an event with officials from the United States and China, not something related to Title IX or campus sexual assault concerns. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao also spoke at the event, and former NBA star Yao Ming appeared on a panel.
“We both want to create high-quality education options, ones that prepare our children for success in their personal and professional lives,” DeVos said. “In the U.S., we are proud of what many students achieve, and the great work of many teachers to help them do so. But we recognize we are not first in the world in our students’ academic achievement, and there is much we can learn from other nations, including China.”
In her comments, DeVos recalled how she traveled to China years ago, a tour she called a “remarkable experience,” and she praised exchange programs for students.
“Studying abroad is a great way to learn,” she said. “What better way to learn a culture, a language, or perhaps most importantly, to forge new relationships.”
Before the event started, the protesters gathered on the Foggy Bottom campus, holding signs that read “Justice for Survivors” and ”#StopBetsy.” As they stood outside where the event was scheduled to be held, the crowd of about 20 protesters grew. They later numbered about 40.
“Betsy’s recent actions against Title IX really made me angry, and I think if you’re not angry then you’re not paying attention,” said GWU freshman Emma Kiesling, 18, one of the protesters. “So I decided to come here and make sure that people can see that.”
The demonstrators eventually began to chant: “Betsy DeVos, you’re no good, support survivors like you should!” and “Hey hey, ho ho, Betsy DeVos has got to go!”
Under the administration’s changes, announced Sept. 22, colleges have the flexibility to use a higher standard of evidence in judging sexual misconduct cases. Previously, DeVos had criticized what she called a “failed system” of enforcement.
“We want stronger guidance on Title IX,” said 21-year-old Danielle Ciaurro, a GWU student who was also one of the protesters. “We don’t want to see survivors’ and marginalized trans students’ rights get stomped on. We want them to feel supported, we want them to be able to seek justice from their universities.”
DeVos is scheduled to speak Thursday evening at Harvard University, delivering the keynote address at a conference drawing academics and advocates favoring school choice policies.
She is expected to appear with Archon Fung and Paul Peterson, who will moderate the talk in an event titled “A Conversation on Empowering Parents with Secretary Betsy DeVos” that caps the first day of a conference, “The Future of School Choice.”
The conference features researchers and advocates who support a range of school choice initiatives, including charter schools and taxpayer-funded vouchers for private schools. DeVos favors all of those measures. School choice proponents believe those initiatives are the best way to overhaul what they view as a broken public school system.
The research presented at the conference “will help me make the argument for school reform,” said Jason Riley, a member of the Wall Street Journal editorial board, addressing attendees.
The event at the John F. Kennedy Jr. Forum is expected to draw hundreds of protesters, including students, teachers and community members. They are coming to voice opposition to the secretary’s advocacy for private and charter schools and her recent decision on how colleges should handle campus sexual assault investigations.
“I’m protesting because I have seen firsthand that sexual violence routinely pushes survivors out of schools,” said Sejal Singh, a 24-year-old law student. Singh is an activist with Know Your IX, an advocacy group that works on campus gender violence. Singh believes DeVos has not done enough to hear from survivors of campus sexual assault. “If she’s not going to take time to listen to survivors and advocates, then we’re going to have to come to her,” Singh said.
Education advocates have also pledged to show up at the Harvard conference. Juan Cofield, president of the New England Area Conference of the NAACP and a member of the Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance, said he is opposed to expanding school choice initiatives because he believes they take away resources from traditional public schools, which still educate the vast majority of schoolchildren.
“It’s a crazy notion to think that you can take resources from schools that are not performing up to par and to think that they’re going to perform better,” Cofield said.
Proponents of school choice initiatives - including charter schools and school vouchers - see those measures as a critical way to get children out of underperforming schools and to encourage all schools to innovate. Many see traditional public schools as broken.