Editing Title IX (section)

== Addressing sexual harassment and sexual violence ==
Title IX applies to all educational programs and all aspects of a school's educational system. Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, and considers harassment to be a type of discrimination. Some types of harassment banned under Title IX include sex-based harassment, pregnancy harassment, sexual violence, and retaliation on the basis of sex or gender.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Title IX and Sex Discrimination |url=https://www.ed.gov/laws-and-policy/civil-rights-laws/title-ix-and-sex-discrimination |access-date=2025-03-10 |website=U.S. Department of Education}}</ref>

=== History and scope ===
In the late 1970s, a group of students and one faculty member sued [[Yale University]] for its failure to curtail sexual harassment on campus, especially by male faculty. This case, [[Alexander v. Yale]], was the first to use Title IX to argue and establish that the sexual harassment of female students can be considered illegal sex discrimination.<ref>Alexander v. Yale, [https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F2/631/178/86618/ 631 F.2d 178] (2d Cir. 1980).</ref> The plaintiffs in the case alleged rape, fondling, and offers of higher grades for sex by several Yale faculty. Some of the cases were based on a 1977 report authored by plaintiff [[Ann Olivarius]], now a feminist attorney known for fighting sexual harassment, "[https://wff.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/1977_Report_to_the_Yale_Corporation.pdf A report to the Yale Corporation from the Yale Undergraduate Women's Caucus]." Several of the plaintiffs and lawyers have written accounts of the case.<ref>Ann Olivarius, "[http://www.thenewjournalatyale.com/2011/04/title-ix-taking-yale-to-court/ Title IX: Taking Yale to Court]," 2011, published in ''The New Journal'' Vol. 42, No. 55 (2020).</ref><ref>Anne E. Simon, "Alexander v. Yale University: An Informal History," in ''Directions in Sexual Harassment Law'', edited by Catharine A. MacKinnon and Reva B. Siegel (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007), pp. 51–59.</ref><ref>See the quotes by Price in Nicole Allan, "[https://feminismandthelaw.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/052009_breakthesilence_ao.pdf To Break the Silence or Be Broken by It: A Genealogy of Women Who Have Refused to Shut Up About Harassment at Yale] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200603155224/https://feminismandthelaw.files.wordpress.com/2012/12/052009_breakthesilence_ao.pdf |date=June 3, 2020 }}," excerpted from her 2009 Yale senior thesis, and Nicole Allan, "[https://yalealumnimagazine.com/articles/3235-confusion-and-silence?page=1 Confusion and Silence]," ''Yale Alumni Magazine'', July/August 2011.</ref> 

During the 1980s and 1990s, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in multiple cases that sexual harassment, which includes sexual assault, violated Title IX because it denied equal access to educational opportunities based on sex.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=2017-02-08 |title=How a 20-Page Letter Changed the Way Higher Education Handles Sexual Assault |url=https://www.chronicle.com/article/how-a-20-page-letter-changed-the-way-higher-education-handles-sexual-assault/ |access-date=2025-03-12 |website=The Chronicle of Higher Education |language=en}}</ref> Later in the 1990s, the U.S. government explicitly recorded sexual harassment and assault as a type of prohibited sex-based discrimination under Title IX.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Powell |first=Alvin |date=2022-06-23 |title=How Title IX transformed colleges, universities over past 50 years |url=https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2022/06/how-title-ix-transformed-colleges-universities-over-past-50-years/ |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=Harvard Gazette |language=en-US}}</ref> Advocates such as the [[American Civil Liberties Union]] (ACLU) likewise maintain that "when students suffer sexual assault and harassment, they are deprived of equal and free access to an education."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aclu.org/womens-rights/title-ix-and-sexual-violence-schools |title=Title IX and Sexual Violence in Schools |publisher=American Civil Liberties Union |access-date=May 4, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130502072043/http://www.aclu.org/womens-rights/title-ix-and-sexual-violence-schools |archive-date=May 2, 2013 }}</ref>  Further, according to an April 2011 letter issued by the [[Department of Education]]'s [[Office for Civil Rights]], "The sexual harassment of students, including sexual violence, interferes with students' right to receive an education free from discrimination and, in the case of sexual violence, is a crime."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Office for Civil Rights |first=U.S. Department of Education |date=2011-04-04 |title=Dear Colleague Letter on Sexual Violence |url=https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/dear_colleague_sexual_violence.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/sites/default/files/dear_colleague_sexual_violence.pdf |archive-date=2017-01-22 |access-date=2025-03-11 |website=White House}}</ref>

During the 1990s, the Office for Civil Rights handled Title IX complaints against individual universities by investigating how they responded to high-profile student sexual harassment and assault cases. The office sometimes found universities in violation for not investigating and resolving students' cases quickly enough, and holding the cases to too high a standard of proof for the context. However, many universities did not have a standard process or personnel for investigating these complaints, and did not change their own practices when similar institutions were found in violation.<ref name=":3" />

In 2011, the Obama-era Office for Civil Rights released a "Dear Colleague Letter" that prodded all U.S. schools to more diligently investigate and resolve reports of sexual assault. This was the office's first guidance issued to all universities, rather than just individually-investigated schools. The letter resulted in widespread change to how universities investigated reports of sexual harassment: schools added or changed investigation procedures and devoted more resources and jobs to becoming compliant with Title IX. The letter explicitly confirmed previously ad-hoc Title IX protocols from the last couple decades and laid out explicit guidance on handling reports of gender-based violence. This included the policy that investigations into harassment should use a "preponderance of the evidence" standard of proof, or that investigations should not take many months to finish.<ref name=":3" /> The letter's impact came from its statement that it is the responsibility of institutions of higher education "to take immediate and effective steps to end sexual harassment and sexual violence." The letter illustrated multiple examples of Title IX requirements as they relate to sexual violence and made it clear that, should an institution fail to fulfill its responsibilities under Title IX, the [[Department of Education]] could impose a fine and potentially deny further institutional access to federal funds. However, critics and the Trump-era Department of Education noted that this change was adopted without a rulemaking process to provide public notice and comment.<ref>Notice of Proposed Rule, Docket ID ED-2018-OCR-0064, November 28, 2018</ref>

The Trump administration made changes to guidelines that were implemented during the Obama administration. These changes shifted the standard of evidence used in Title IX investigations from "preponderance of the evidence" to a higher standard of "clear and convincing" evidence. This is typically used for civil cases in which serious allegations are made (as opposed to the standard of beyond reasonable doubt in criminal cases).<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ujifusa |first=Andrew |title=How Have Obama's K-12 Policies Fared Under Trump? |url=https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2018/06/20/how-have-obamas-k-12-policies-fared-under.html |access-date=June 20, 2018 |work=Education Week |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=King |first=Robert |title=Title IX Defense |url=https://www.robertkinglawfirm.com/criminal-defense/sex-crimes/title-ix-defense/ |access-date=September 15, 2020 |work=King Law |language=en-US}}</ref> On September 22, 2017, US Department of Education Secretary Betsy Devos rescinded the Obama-era guidelines which had prodded colleges and universities to more aggressively investigate campus sexual assaults.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Rosenblatt |first=Lauren |date=October 24, 2017 |title=Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos rescinds Obama-era guidelines on campus sexual assault |url=https://www.latimes.com/politics/washington/la-na-essential-washington-updates-secretary-of-education-betsy-devos-1506092354-htmlstory.html |website=[[Los Angeles Times]]}}</ref> On May 7, 2020, the U.S. Department of Education released final regulations governing campus sexual assault under Title IX. This was the first Title IX guidance published by the Office of Civil Rights to go through a formal notice-and-comment process since 1997.<ref name="insidehighered.com">{{Cite web |last=Anderson |first=Greta |date=2020-05-07 |title=U.S. Publishes New Regulations on Campus Sexual Assault |url=https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/05/07/education-department-releases-final-title-ix-regulations#:~:text=The%202020%20regulations%20will%20instead,a%20higher%20burden%20of%20proof. |access-date=2021-07-03 |website=Inside Higher Ed}}</ref> Some of the new regulations made in May 2020 involved defining sexual harassment to include "sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking," as discrimination, as well as requiring schools to offer attainable options for anyone to report a sexual harassment case.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Secretary DeVos Takes Historic Action to Strengthen Title IX Protections for All Students {{!}} U.S. Department of Education |url=https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/secretary-devos-takes-historic-action-strengthen-title-ix-protections-all-students |access-date=2020-12-20 |website=www.ed.gov}}</ref> These regulations were more binding than earlier Dear Colleague letters, and required university compliance by August 14, 2020.<ref name="insidehighered.com" /> On February 10, 2022, the Department of Education issued guidance on how schools should implement the new Title IX regulations. This guidance included specific information on how schools should prevent and respond to sexual harassment.<ref name="topictics.com">{{Cite web |date=2023-10-12 |title=Explaining Quid Pro Quo Harassment Under Title IX |url=https://topictics.com/explaining-quid-pro-quo-harassment-under-title-ix/ |access-date=2023-10-14 |language=en-US}}</ref>

On June 23, 2022, the Biden administration issued a proposed rule to reverse the changes made by the final rule and to expand coverage regarding gender identity and pregnancy.<ref>{{cite web |title=Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance |url=https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/t9nprm.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220623150204/https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/t9nprm.pdf |archive-date=2022-06-23 |accessdate=2022-06-28}}</ref> The new rules, released in April 2024, broadened the scope of which sexual harassment cases might require investigations, and removed a requirement to hold live hearings, which victims' advocates say retraumatize survivors and discourage reporting of sexual harassment.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Smith |first=Tovia |date=2024-04-19 |title=Biden administration adds Title IX protections for LGBTQ students, assault victims |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/04/19/1245858954/title-ix-changes-lgbtq-assault-victim-transgender-biden-administration |access-date=2025-04-08 |work=NPR |language=en}}</ref> The rule was blocked by legal challenges in many states, and was overturned by a federal judge in Kentucky in January 2025. At the start of the [[Second presidency of Donald Trump|second Trump administration]], the Department of Education directed schools and colleges to return to policies from Trump's first presidential term.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-01-31 |title=US colleges returning to campus sexual assault rules created during Trump's first term |url=https://apnews.com/article/title-ix-trump-lgbtq-sex-assault-b7b6ad1cbe28331ce38ef896e6d4fd2b |access-date=2025-04-08 |website=AP News |language=en}}</ref>

=== Lawsuits and activism ===
Title IX has been interpreted as allowing private lawsuits against educational institutions as well as formal complaints submitted to the [[Department of Education]]. In 2006, a federal court found that there was sufficient evidence that the [[University of Colorado]] acted with "deliberate indifference" toward students Lisa Simpson and Anne Gilmore, who were sexually assaulted by student football players. The university settled the case by promising to change its policies and to pay $2.5&nbsp;million in damages.<ref>{{cite web |title=Simpson v. University of Colorado |url=https://www.aclu.org/racial-justice-womens-rights/simpson-v-university-colorado |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130414013426/http://www.aclu.org/racial-justice-womens-rights/simpson-v-university-colorado |archive-date=April 14, 2013 |access-date=May 4, 2013 |publisher=ACLU.org}}</ref> In 2008, [[Arizona State University]] was the subject of a lawsuit that alleged violations of rights guaranteed by Title IX: the university expelled a football player for multiple instances of severe sexual harassment, but readmitted him; he went on to rape a fellow student in her dorm room. Despite its claim that it bore no responsibility, the school settled the lawsuit, agreeing to revise and improve its official response to sexual misconduct and to pay the plaintiff $850,000 in damages and fees.<ref>{{cite web |title=J.K. v. Arizona Board of Regents |url=https://www.aclu.org/womens-rights/jk-v-arizona-board-regents |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130414013422/http://www.aclu.org/womens-rights/jk-v-arizona-board-regents |archive-date=April 14, 2013 |access-date=May 4, 2013 |publisher=ACLU.org}}</ref>

On March 15, 2011, [[Yale]] undergraduate student and alleged sexual violence survivor Alexandra Brodsky filed a Title IX complaint along with fifteen fellow students alleging Yale "has a sexually hostile environment and has failed to adequately respond to sexual harassment concerns."<ref>{{cite news |author=John Christofferson |title=Yale Under Federal Investigation For 'Sexually Hostile Environment' |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/01/yale-title-ix_n_843570.html |work=The Huffington Post |date=April 1, 2011 |access-date=May 4, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825191009/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/01/yale-title-ix_n_843570.html |archive-date=August 25, 2013 }}</ref>

In October 2012, an [[Amherst College]] student, [[Angie Epifano]], wrote an explicit, personal account of her alleged sexual assault and the ensuing "appalling treatment" she received when coming forward to seek support from the college's administration.<ref name="Epifano">{{cite news|last=Epifano|first=Angie|title=An Account of Sexual Assault at Amherst College|url=http://amherststudent.amherst.edu/?q=article/2012/10/17/account-sexual-assault-amherst-college|access-date=June 23, 2013|newspaper=The Amherst Student|date=October 17, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20121019215229/http://amherststudent.amherst.edu/?q=article%2F2012%2F10%2F17%2Faccount-sexual-assault-amherst-college|archive-date=October 19, 2012}}</ref> In the narrative, Epifano alleged that she was raped by a fellow Amherst student and described how her life was affected by the experience; she stated that the perpetrator harassed her at the only dining hall, that her academic performance was negatively affected, and that, when she sought support, the administration coerced her into taking the blame for her experience and ultimately institutionalized her and pressured her to drop out.<ref>{{cite news|last=Richard|first=Perez-Pena|title=Student's Account Has Rape in Spotlight|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/27/education/amherst-account-of-rape-brings-tension-to-forefront.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0|access-date=June 24, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=October 26, 2012|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130104144332/http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/27/education/amherst-account-of-rape-brings-tension-to-forefront.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0|archive-date=January 4, 2013}}</ref>

<blockquote>The fact that such a prestigious institution could have such a noxious interior fills me with intense remorse mixed with sour distaste. I am sickened by the Administration's attempts to cover up survivors' stories, cook their books to discount rapes, pretend that withdrawals never occur, quell attempts at change, and sweep sexual assaults under a rug. When politicians cover up affairs or scandals the masses often rise in angry protestations and call for a more transparent government. What is the difference between a government and the Amherst College campus? Why can't we know what is happening on campus? Why should we be quiet about sexual assault?"<ref name="Epifano"/></blockquote>

When the Amherst case reached national attention, [[Annie E. Clark]] and [[Andrea Pino]], two women who were allegedly sexually assaulted at the [[University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill]] connected with Epifano, Brodsky, and [[Yale Law School]] student [[Dana Bolger]] to address the parallel concerns of hostility at their institution, filing Title IX and [[Clery Act]] complaints against the university in January 2013, both leading to investigations by the [[U.S. Department of Education]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Perez-Pena|first=Richard|title=Students Initiate Inquiry Into Harassment Reports|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/08/education/students-initiate-inquiry-into-harassment-reports.html?hpw|access-date=June 24, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 7, 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527115019/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/08/education/students-initiate-inquiry-into-harassment-reports.html?hpw|archive-date=May 27, 2013}}</ref>

Following the national prominence of the UNC Chapel Hill case, organizers Pino and Clark went on to coordinate with students at other schools; in 2013, complaints citing violations of Title IX were filed against [[Occidental College]] (on April 18), [[Swarthmore College]] and [[the University of Southern California]] (on May 22).<ref>{{cite news |author=Tyler Kingkade |title=College Sexual Assault Survivors Form Underground Network To Reform Campus Policies |url=https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/21/college-sexual-assault-survivors_n_2918855.html |work=The Huffington Post |date=March 21, 2013 |access-date=May 4, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130508182458/http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/03/21/college-sexual-assault-survivors_n_2918855.html |archive-date=May 8, 2013 }}</ref><ref name="Castellanos">{{cite news |author=Dalina Castellanos |title=Complaints filed against USC, UC Berkeley over rape reporting |url=https://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0523-college-rape-20130523,0,106833.story |date=May 22, 2010 |access-date=May 23, 2013 |work=Los Angeles Times |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130523150800/http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-0523-college-rape-20130523,0,106833.story |archive-date=May 23, 2013 }}</ref> These complaints, the resulting campaigns against sexual violence on college campuses, and the organizing of Bolger, Brodsky, Clark, Pino and other activists led to the formation of an informal national network of activists.<ref>{{cite news|last=Perez-Pena|first=Richard|title=College Groups Connect to Fight Sexual Assault|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/20/education/activists-at-colleges-network-to-fight-sexual-assault.html?pagewanted=all|access-date=June 24, 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=March 19, 2013|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130524233543/http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/20/education/activists-at-colleges-network-to-fight-sexual-assault.html?pagewanted=all|archive-date=May 24, 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Stancill |first=Jane |title=UNC-CH women wage national campaign against sexual assault |url=http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/06/01/2932161/unc-ch-women-wage-national-campaign.html |access-date=June 24, 2013 |newspaper=The News & Observer |date=June 1, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130609020944/http://www.newsobserver.com/2013/06/01/2932161/unc-ch-women-wage-national-campaign.html |archive-date=June 9, 2013 }}</ref> Bolger and Brodsky also started [[Know Your IX]], an organization of student activists focused on legal education and federal and state policy change.