“Unlawful Advances” Digs Into Title IX

Take a stroll through Title IX history wearing sociology-colored glasses in the new book, Unlawful Advances: How Feminists Transformed Title IX by Celene Reynolds. The book specifically explores how Title IX became such an important tool in fighting sexual harassment, especially since the phrase “sexual harassment” didn’t even exist when Title IX became law in 1972. Feminist students and lawyers collaborated to reimagine Title IX and change campus culture. That process repeatedly has kept Title IX current as society’s understanding of different topics evolves, not only in respect to sexual harassment but sexual assault, athletics, LGBTQ rights, and more.

And the rest is not just history, stresses Reynolds, an assistant professor of sociology at Indiana University Bloomington. This story is not over. Sexual misconduct on campus remains outrageously prevalent. The current systems for managing complaints of campus sexual harassment or assault may do more harm than good in some cases. The book ends with a forward-looking question: What new creative collaborations or innovative thinking will help us reach that goal of equality in education that those early Title IX advocates hoped to achieve? Title IX’s story continues to evolve.

Reynolds focuses in on three stories that you’ll find in my book 37 Words: Title IX and Fifty Years of Fighting Sex Discrimination, but takes a deeper dive into these. She combines her analysis of events at Cornell University, Yale University, and the University of California, Berkeley with a unique data set of Title IX cases that she compiled to inform her perspective. Give it a read.

Drum roll, please… A new name for my book!

The paperback version of my Title IX history comes out in March 2026, and pre-orders start in January. The wise editors at The New Press saw this as an opportunity to tweak the title for better SEO. After kicking around a half-dozen or more options, we settled on Fifty Years of Title IX: How 37 Words Changed America. The cover design looks much the same, though. And I’ve made a few tiny corrections in the text. Order a copy, and see if you can spot them!

Elsewhere

For one good example of how educational systems keep sexual harassment and assault prevalent in schools, read this interesting summary of the “pass the trash” issue in the San Francisco School District.

An elementary school principal in Tuscola, Ill. resigned after an investigation found that he sexually harassed a staff member.

While my little blog can’t cover all the ways the Trump Administration is attempting to dismantle the Department of Education and stymie Title IX, here’s one bit of news. After Trump sidelined 200 workers in the department earlier this year as court challenges to his actions play out, a “massive backlog” in civil rights complaints built up. Now those 200 employees have been told to return to work. And, of course, at least one lawsuit has been filed by multiple groups to stop Trump’s actions.

Women athletes are suing too, claiming the NCAA’s $2.8 billion settlement regarding player compensation violates Title IX and unfairly gives the bulk of the money to — wait for it — men! For a deeper dive on that issue, see The Drake Group’s detailed analysis of what they call the NCAA leadership’s “word salad, glib denial, and intention to mislead.”

On that bright note, I wish all of you readers the happiest of holidays and hope for a better year in 2026.