Could anything be worse? Getting lawyers in as early as possible to protect rights of the accused is something needed, and a kind of Miranda warning to make the option meaningful would be a sound improvement. The proposed rules are not there yet.
Clearly excluding off campus conduct from school jurisdiciton is better; recall the football program was investigated by skilled professionals with an experienced prosecutor declining to prosecute, before Hewitt's amateurs monkeyed things up greatly. This improvement appears to be a part of the DeVos Department's presently reported revision.
Having a university "hearing" process with no justification of conclusions was a mess, but will it be changed?
Exchange of evidence rather than ex parte unskilled interviews without transcripts was ripe for undiscoverable bias. Having opposing counsel present during any "interview" is only due process, after all, and Hewitt's minions disdained the thought of it.
There is more detail in Strib reporting; but in total it appears a degree of sanity and fairness will be restored.
Replacing the coach who won the bowl game against Washington State while having his entire starting defensive backfield unavailable was a discretionary act apart from any procedures leading to the backfield's absence, and replacing the coach with Joe Rah-Rah will take a few years to see whether it worked or was another Tim Brewster mistake. However, that is a digression to carp against the judgment of campus administration and the athletic department, and until proven otherwise the Fleck-era is here regarded as a mistake to be proven otherwise.
Back from the digression, things may turn out much improved over the previous informal and non-transparent regime.
Off campus is off campus and these are nominal adults who, when off campus, are still subject to criminal law with skilled investigators and prosecutors determining conduct and standards, with transparent procedure unlike Hewitt's. She had an agenda, did it, then hopped to Johns Hopkins leaving a deluge of damage and chaos behind her.
