Exceptional Title IX history happening right now

It’s summer and Title IX news is slower, yet one of the most important events in Title IX history is happening right now. And you can play a part.

For only the second time, the federal government is going through the extensive process to change the regulations that govern how Title IX gets implemented — in other words, the legal rules for how schools prevent or manage sex discrimination in education. The first time this changed was under President Donald Trump, more than 40 years after President Gerald Ford’s administration adopted the original Title IX regulations. Many people see the changes now proposed under President Joe Biden as a way to “fix” damage done by Trump’s revised rules. But it’s more nuanced than that.

Feminist scholars liked a few of the changes under Trump while detesting others, and they don’t necessarily agree with all of Biden’s proposed changes, either. Here’s an excellent opinion article in the Chronicle of Higher Education, for example, arguing against proposed rules requiring school employees to report suspected sex discrimination even if the student victims don’t want them to report. The well-meaning idea most likely is meant to counter many instances in history in which school officials didn’t act, causing students greater harm. But we now have research data showing that mandatory reporting doesn’t help and can make things worse, argue Kathryn J. Holland, Jennifer J. Freyd, and Elizabeth A. Armstrong.

It’s not uncommon for different presidential administrations to suggest different ways of complying with Title IX. Every time the White House changes hands, in fact, the federal Office for Civil Rights tweaks the “guidance” and “Dear Colleague” letters that it distributes to fit the preferences of the current administration. But that kind of guidance is not compulsory. It’s simply a way of telling schools that if they follow the guidance, the government will be inclined to presume they’re complying with Title IX. Changing the actual regulations is a whole different ball game. What’s in the regulations has the force of law. Trump was the first to make his changes legally binding. Biden will be the second.

Now is your time to let the government know what you think of how Title IX is regulated, and your ideas for improvements. The deadline for public comments is September 12.

Elsewhere

Three years after failing to help a female student who reported being in danger and then was killed by an ex-boyfriend, the University of Utah failed to help another student who reported being in danger and also was then killed by an ex-boyfriend. A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against the University of Wisconsin, Madison for reinstating a football star who had been expelled for sexual assault. An in-depth article by the Hechinger Report shows the discrimination that pregnant teens can face in school and asks, “If we see more pregnant students post-Roe, are we prepared to support them?” In the “actions speak louder than words” department: Colleges may say they value student and faculty diversity but a new study shows the data and strategies often don’t back that up.

On the up side

The number of disability cultural centers on college campuses is increasing. These go beyond the more-common disability-resource or disability-services centers that focus on meeting legal mandates.

Where you’ll find me

Friday, October 28, 9 a.m. — I’ll be speaking at a Title IX conference at Northwestern University, Chicago.

November 10-12 — I’m looking forward to two appearances at the National Women’s Studies Association conference in Minneapolis. One is a panel session and the other is a Feminist Authors Showcase at which scholars will discuss 37 Words.

*** Would you like to set up an in-person or Zoom session with me for your organization or book club? Reach me through my Contact page.***

You can watch panel about Title IX with me, basketball great Allison Hightower, and Prof. Sara Fields hosted by Tel Aviv University on July 10, 2022 at a conference on women and sport.

The Post News Group highlighted 37 Words and one of the three main people the book profiles — civil rights attorney Pamela Price. I published an article in the Washington Post’s Made by History section, this one on “The true mother of Title IX. And why it matters now more than ever.” The Christian Science Monitor included 37 Words in two articles — a cover story on “Title IX at 50” and a sidebar examining the racial gap among women athletes in colleges. The Smithsonian Magazine quoted me and my book in its article about Title IX. Women’s Running quoted my book in “A look at LGBTQ Athletes’ Fight for Protections Under Title IX.”

I’m not just a Title IX wonk, you know. My first book was about electric vehicles. So I joined Clean Energy New Hampshire recently for a Zoom discussion about EVs in New Hampshire. You can find my segment starting at the 2:29 time point of this video. 

The Guardian mentioned 37 Words prominently in its story on the history of Title IX. Read about the Supreme Court’s history of curtailing Title IX and other civil rights laws in my article in The Washington Post Made by History section. I am delighted that former Chancellor of the University of Illinois, Springfield Susan Koch wrote a glowing review of 37 Words in the Des Moines Register. The Nation magazine published an excerpt from my chapter 5, which introduces Title IX’s application by the movement against sexual violence. The Washington Monthly gave 37 Words a fine review — check it out. The Wall Street Journal published a review of my book and I wrote a Letter to the Editor correcting some misinformation in that review.

Lastly, here are links to order your copy of my book 37 Words: Title IX and Fifty Years of Fighting Sex Discrimination (The New Press, 2022).

#titleix #37words