ST. LOUIS — The debate is heating up over how to handle sexual assault allegations on college campuses.
Supporters of Missouri Title IX reform said new reforms would insure the accused are innocent until proven guilty, but many others are concerned with those changes, it would discourage victims from coming forward.
A Washington University sophomore is now lending his voice to the debate.
When it comes to politics, Steven Kish said he rather be on the outside looking in.
"I like to follow politics," said Kish.
However, on a topic this important, he just can't stay silent.
"I think these pieces of legislation would absolutely stifle and reverse a lot of the good work that’s being done here," he said.
Missouri lawmakers are considering two different versions of a bill that would revolutionize how college campuses investigate sexual assault.
The current system only requires campus leaders to find what's called a "preponderance of evidence.” In other words, it's more likely than not that misconduct has occurred.
The new bill would raise the level of proof.
Steven fears this would discourage victims from coming forward.
"We will just see more survivors suffering and more survivors being denied justice," he said.
That's not his only concern.
Under the new rules, a student could hire their own attorney, cross examine the accuser, the investigate the accuser's sexual and mental health history and at any time the accused can request for the investigation to be handled by an Administrative Hearing Commission.
"I think it would be a real shame if those objectives and those central pieces of what we need to do here for the safety of our students, got lost in politics," said Kish.
So, student Senator Kish passed a resolution through Washington University's student government that strongly condemns these proposals.
He hopes lawmakers will listen to students like him, standing on the outside, because it will impact them the most.
"So harmful. Unprecedentedly harmful to the student population here, particularly survivors of relationship and sexual violence," he said.
A spokesperson for the Missouri Due Process Coalition, the group lobbying for Title IX reform, told 5 On Your Side in a statement:
"Nationwide, more than 400 lawsuits have been filed against colleges and universities that rushed to judgement and denied due process for their students; no amount of disgusting personal attacks from due process opponents will change that.”
The Kansas City Star is reporting the main lobbyist pushing for this legislation, Robert McIntosh, actually had a son at Washington University that was punished through the Title IX process.
5 On Your Side reached out to that lobbying firm about details relating to that scenario but we haven't heard back.