Posts Tagged: Title IX

Proposed Changes to Trump Administration Title IX Regs … Going Backward or Forward?

On the 50th anniversary of the enactment of Title IX, the U.S. Department of Education released proposed new regulations for Title IX policies. For the most part, these new regulations reverse regulatory changes made during the Trump administration. The Biden administration insists the new regs will “restore crucial protections” that had been “weakened.” Commenters have their own opinio...

Pandemic-Caused Shift to Remote Learning Has Led to Novel Civil Rights Issues

When the pandemic shut down the country in March 2020, many college and university administrators predicted that civil rights complaints would plummet. With students learning from home and out of physical and social contact with one another, it seemed unlikely that there would be many claims of discrimination or sexual harassment under Title IX and other civil rights laws. But as it happens, the p...

The Title IX Sleigh Ride

Should feds dictate rules on campus sexual misconduct? The U.S. Department of Education is poised to reverse Trump-era rules governing claims of sexual misconduct on campus. One could forgive weary college counsel for a case of vertigo: The Trump rules themselves reversed the Obama rules, and Biden’s 2021 nominee to enforce the rules—Catherine Lhamon—held the same office at the Education ...

Will PWIs Embrace Change in a Nation at Unrest?

Ahmaud Arbery, February 23, 2020. A murder that was concealed and hidden away from this nation at unrest. Breonna Taylor, March 13, 2020. A murder, again hidden from a nation at unrest. George Floyd, May 25, 2020. A murder documented and mourned by all of America, not just those who are Black and American. As the protests began and stories began to change, this divided nation—Haitian, J...

Colleges as Courtrooms? How Administrators Can Adjust to New Title IX Regs

The first formal changes to Title IX’s implementing regulations in 45 years are here, and they are significant. The federal statute, which prohibits sex discrimination in educational programs receiving federal financial assistance, had its earliest impacts on intercollegiate athletics. But since the late 1990s, it has also been interpreted to prohibit sexual harassment in education. It is this a...

Title IX Changes Could Add Exposure for Universities, Discourage Victims from Coming Forward

Higher Ed and the Law ... Title IX, the federal civil rights law passed in 1972, was a landmark piece of legislation that prohibited sexual discrimination in educational institutions across America. It reads, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or...

Providing Transparency to the Title IX Process

When U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos announced Sept. 7 that her department would revisit how Title IX rules are enforced with respect to campus sexual assault, she said the first step would be a “transparent notice and comment process” to replace the 2011 “guidance” (and follow up 2014 guidance) that has been criticized for its one-size-fits-all presumption and lack of flexibility ...

How Much Power Does a Higher Ed Institution Have Over Including Transgender Students in Greek Life?

Different images come to mind when thinking about college fraternities and sororities, depending on who you are. Some people love them, some hate them, and some have only experienced them through movies, like Animal House. Whether your images are positive or negative, one thing is constant: You envision a group of same-sex young people. But 2017 is knocking on our door and one of the major social...

Illegal Procedure? Title IX and Sexual Assault

Florida State University quarterback and Heisman Trophy winner Jameis Winston was recently cleared of sexual assault charges following the university’s two-day investigative hearing. The high-profile investigation was launched under Title IX, which requires schools to investigate such allegations even in the absence of criminal charges. Winston’s attorney immediately took to his Twitter accoun...

Not Off That Easy: Government Responds to University Inaction on Sexual Assaults

Yale is no stranger to Title IX controversies. In 1976, Women’s Crew accused the university of unequally funding its athletic team. One year later, a Title IX suit was brought against the university after four female undergraduates and one male assistant professor alleged that quid pro quo sexual harassment by male professors prohibited women from receiving access to the same quality educati...