Maryland Gov. Wes Moore is ordering an independent review of campus sexual assault policies after a Cornell University gang rape lawsuit exposed how thoroughly institutions fail students when it matters most — and ordinary families sending kids to college deserve to know the system they're paying for won't protect them.
The directive Thursday asks the Maryland Higher Education Commission to recommend policy improvements within 90 days, just as the General Assembly convenes in mid-January. Moore's move comes after a former Cornell student, identified as Jane Doe, filed suit accusing seven male students of raping her over seven hours while she was under the influence of ketamine at an October 2024 fraternity party. Local law enforcement in New York declined to pursue charges. The university eventually suspended and expelled several of the accused — but only after the damage was done and the courts wouldn't act.
"Deeply troubling accounts have emerged in recent days of how students outside of Maryland have bravely come forward to report sexual assault and have been failed by the institutions that are supposed to ensure their safety," Moore wrote in his directive. "This is a call to action."
He's right about the failure. The question is whether the bureaucracy that created the problem can fix it.
For years, the federal Title IX framework was weaponized to serve ideology rather than safety. The Biden administration pushed rules extending protections to LGBTQ+ students — rules that faced significant legal headwinds and did nothing for women like Jane Doe. The Trump administration rescinded those rules last month, reverting to guidelines that set a stricter definition of sexual harassment and restored due process rights to the accused. Both outlets noted this rescission may not change much on the ground, since Trump's Education Department had already been enforcing the prior framework.
So the federal government spent years fighting over pronouns and procedures while students were being drugged and assaulted at fraternity parties. That's the institutional failure Moore is acknowledging — even if he won't name it directly.
MHEC interim secretary Elena Quiroz-Livanis framed the review as Maryland establishing a "gold standard" independent of Washington. "Our approach is not about waiting for Washington to finalize every rule; it is about establishing a gold standard right here at home," she said. The commission is partnering with the Attorney General's Office to build a framework that "holds offenders accountable, protects survivor rights, and provides our campus leaders with the clear, consistent guidance they need."
The University System of Maryland — covering UMD, Towson, Bowie State and other public campuses — offered the kind of boilerplate that explains how we got here. Spokesperson Michael Sandler said institutions "routinely evaluate these policies and programs" and are "committed to creating safe environments." They always are. The question is why seven-hour gang rapes still happen on their watch, and why police walk away.
A 90-day review is a start. But the same administrators who presided over this failure are now promising to fix it. The real test isn't a report — it's whether any student at a Maryland campus is safer a year from now than she is today.
