New Policy Protects Students' Rights, Lawmaker Says

ATLANTA, GA -- The feud between Georgia Tech president Bud Peterson and one of the state's most powerful lawmakers seems to be over.

State Rep. Earl Ehrhart (R-Powder Springs) says the Board of Regents on Thursday passed a new set of policies and procedures to ensure due process rights for students attending Georgia's public colleges and universities.

"I am so pleased with their actions on this issue," Ehrhart said. "I've been working with them closely over the past year on this proposal, and I'm thrilled they agreed with me and put these measures into place for students."

Last week, Ehrhart, who chairs the House appropriations subcommittee on higher education, called for Peterson's resignation over the way the school has handled accusations of sexual assault. Ehrhart said Tech's process of handling sexual assault complaints don't give the accused students a due and fair process.

Earlier this week, Ehrhart held a hearing regarding incidents at Tech where he says the school did not follow its own procedures. He also recently met with Peterson, and had "a very cordial and productive conversation."

Ehrhart says Peterson has apologized to the Phi Delta Theta fraternity, which Tech had punished after its members were accused of shouting racial slurs at a young black woman from their frat house. The fraternity said there was no evidence that the incident ever happened.

"I truly appreciate the fact that he recognized the missteps that Tech had made in the past, and further that he took the time to write a letter to Phi Delta Theta apologizing for Tech's actions in unfairly punishing those students," Ehrhart said.

"He also pledged to work with the Regents and our committee to institute the newly passed policies. I'm also thankful for his commitment to protect the due process rights of students in the future."