Dive Brief:

• The State University of New York has released a new sexual assault policy for its 64 schools.
• The 14-page policy includes a victims’ “Bill of Rights,” a lengthy definition of affirmative consent between sexual partners, and amnesty from discipline for underage sexual assault victims who used drugs or alcohol, USA Today reports.
• The SUNY campuses have a March 31 deadline for issuing plans on how they will comply with the new policy.

Dive Insight:

SUNY Board Chairman Carl McCall is calling the new policy the most comprehensive for any higher ed institution or system in the country. The definition of affirmative consent is probably the longest — 11 sentences. New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo says he will ask the state legislature to pass a law that would apply the sexual assault policy to private higher ed institutions. The consent language — based on the “yes means yes” concept of active-and-not-passive consent — comes from a SUNY New Paltz policy adopted last summer.