Written by Mark Payne, LINK nky politics and government reporter
Two Northern Kentucky Representatives have teamed up on a bill that will protect students’ rights at universities in Kentucky. Sponsored by Rep. Kim Banta (R-Ft. Mitchell) and co-sponsored by Kim Moser (R-Taylor Mill), House Bill 290 is known as the Kentucky Campus Due Process Protection Act.
“In the course of a year, we have closely reviewed each school and their policies, their housing policies, their residential contracts, their appeals procedures, reviewed what departments are over these processes and the millions of dollars that fund them,” Banta said. “I have also worked without public universities, advocacy groups such as the Kentucky Student Rights Coalition and the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), and groups to protect survivors of sexual violence.”
The goal is to provide procedures when a student allegedly does something that leads to suspension or expulsion from a university.
“When colleges or universities are quick to act, without regard for a students’ rights, it can lead to the wrongful deprivation of the students’ interests,” Banta said. “Due process is a guarantee of fairness. We should hold students accountable for offenses. However, we should also make sure that we hold students accountable through a fair, consistent, and equitable system that recognizes what’s at stake for Kentuckians. The Kentucky Campus Due Process Protection Act is that guarantee.”
Banta became aware of the issues around due process when she was approached by Republican and Democratic student groups around Kentucky. They voiced issues with their universities that afforded basic measures found anywhere outside a college campus.
“Students dorm rooms were searched without notice, students accused of rape were not allowed to see the evidence against them, and survivors of sexual assault were forced to speak for themselves in a time of trauma and crisis,” Banta said. “This is cruel.”
The public universities mentioned in the bill are: the University of Kentucky, University of Louisville, Eastern Kentucky University, Kentucky State University, Morehead State University, Murray State University, Northern Kentucky University, and Western Kentucky University.
“As said by students from the University of Louisville and Eastern Kentucky University who spoke in favor of the bill last session, we should hold students accountable for offenses,” Banta said. “We, however, should also make sure that we hold students accountable through a fair, consistent, and equitable system that recognizes what’s at stake for Kentuckians.”
Currently, students undergoing campus investigations don’t get any due process, such as the right to see evidence, the presumption of innocence, or in the case of campus sexual abuse, for a survivor or the accused to have legal counsel.
“HB 290 ensures the legal protections that the American system has promised us all,” Moser said. “Our bill will establish predictability and, most importantly, maintain the same due process for students on campus as they would have outside of campus.”
As a society, we aren’t any longer in the days where college disciplinary procedures cover cheating allegations and occasional dormitory pranks, said Joe Cohn, director of Legislative and Policy for the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, also known as FIRE.
“Colleges are now deciding whether students committed rapes or dealt drugs,” he said.
FIRE is a leading nonpartisan organization that is focused on defending the rights of students and faculty members.
“HB 290 would ensure students facing potentially life-altering sanctions have meaningful opportunities to defend themselves by giving them procedural protections like the right to hire legal representation, the right to present and cross-examine witnesses, and the right to access all of the evidence in the institution’s possession,” Cohn said.
There are a couple of other local co-sponsors: Rep. Savannah Maddox (R-Dry Ridge), and Ed Massey (R-Hebron).
“It’s important to remember what’s at stake for the student,” Banta said. “Students who face losing their educational opportunity, including thousands of dollars in tuition and housing, is something not to be taken lightly. Students deserve the right to a fair and legal process,” said Representative Banta. “As a legislator, as a former principal, and as a parent – my first priority is the well-being of Kentucky students. Our goal should be to make every student feel that our public institutions have treated them fairly under the law.”