DeVos overhaul could make campus sex misconduct harder to prove. Will that protect the accused or silence accusers?

CHICAGO - After a University of Chicago student reported to school officials last year that her former boyfriend sexually assaulted her, a school disciplinary board ruled in her favor and expelled the fellow student she accused.

But that wasn't the end of the story.

The student who was kicked out then sued the university, arguing he was denied a fair chance to defend himself.

In doing so, he joined a growing number of critics who say that university procedures for investigating sexual misconduct under Title IX - a 1972 law prohibiting sex discrimination in federally funded educational programs - are themselves discriminatory against the accused.

Such policies, the pending federal lawsuit contends, "emphasize speed of resolution over due process."

Now the debate has taken on new urgency, as President Donald Trump's secretary of education, Betsy DeVos, seeks to undo Obama-era guidelines on how college officials handle sexual assault claims against students, which critics said were