Victoria Gonzalez/Vaquero Radio
On Jan. 31, the United States Department of Education Office for Civil Rights sent a letter to K-12 schools and higher learning institutions stating it will enforce the 2020 Title IX regulations.
Title IX of the Civil Rights Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by former President Richard Nixon in 1972. As part of the Education Amendments of 1972, the federal law prohibits discrimination based on sex in educational programs that receive federal funding.
The law also protects those who experience stalking, interpersonal violence, sexual harassment, sexual assault and discrimination on the basis of pregnancy.
The 1,500-page regulations by the Biden Administration were issued by the U.S. Department of Education in 2024, replacing the Trump Administration’s 2020 Title IX ruling.
Highlighted points in Title IX during Trump’s first presidency state colleges must allow cross-examination in live hearings and respond to off-campus harassment only in institution-affiliated locations. Stalking, domestic and dating violence are now included as sexual harassment. It defined sexual harassment as “severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive.”
Title IX does not cover misconduct outside the U.S., and multiple informal complaints against one person won’t automatically trigger formal action. Colleges must use a three-official model for Title IX cases, train staff, publish training materials and allow virtual processes.
They must also provide evidence in advance, remove gag orders and ensure a reasonably prompt complaint process without strict timelines.
These regulations went into effect Aug. 14, 2020.
But new shifts for Title IX under former President Joseph Biden took effect when he went into office. These guidelines included removing the requirement for live hearings with cross-examination in campus disciplinary procedures for addressing sexual assault cases, redefining sexual harassment as “sufficiently severe or pervasive,” addressing misconduct off-campus or out of the country and extending protections to pregnant or parenting individuals.
The most controversial rule was the clarification of discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, expanding protections for LGBTQ+ students and employees.
The new rules took effect Aug. 1, 2024, but many Republican states sued the Biden Administration over the changes. The rule was halted from taking effect in 26 states from federal courts.
The decision came after U.S. District Judge Danny C. Reeves from Kentucky found Biden’s expansion protections for LGBTQ+ individuals was unconstitutional and blocked the revisions from taking effect.
In addition to this, Trump issued an executive order to recognize only two sexes: male and female. The Dear Colleague letter sent to higher education institutions said the U.S. Department of Education and the Office for Civil Rights must enforce Title IX provisions consistent with this order.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton was able to stop Biden’s Title IX enforcements from taking place in schools after he sued the U.S. Department of Education last June for issuing what he called unlawful guidance that added sexual orientation and gender identity as protected groups under Title IX.
Professor for the UTRGV Department of Philosophy and Director for the Office for Advocacy & Violence Prevention Cynthia Jones said the university has been operating under Trump’s 2020 Title IX regulations and added its significant impact on students’ ability to report and seek services.
“One of the very good outcomes of the Trump-era Title IX legislation was that it institutionalized what are called supportive measures,” Jones said. “And so, it makes it clear that faculty, mostly, can’t simply ignore a request from Title IX office who are requesting to assist.”
Texas Senate Bill 212 was passed during a 2019 Legislative session and stated all employees at a university must report any knowledge of sexual assault, sexual harassment, dating violence or stalking committed by or against a student or employee.
In accordance with the new guidelines of the Trump Administration’s Title IX, Jones said Texas laws have been getting stricter. She said this is good as it has led to increased reporting and focus that can prevent such situations from occurring. But on the other hand, many people might not want to tell the university what happened to them.
“They might just want counseling or advocacy or assistance with supportive measures or something outside, or assistance with rehousing,” Jones said. “And mandatory reporting can sometimes … take the power away from somebody who’s been traumatized.”
According to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, out of 1,000 sexual assaults, over 900 perpetrations will walk free.
Jones said the Title IX definition of sexual assault includes forcible fondling and rape, but according to the law, sexual assault is not the same thing as rape.
“So, we have cases where someone grabs somebody else inappropriately,” she said. “Breasts or penis or buttocks, it’s a part that you really consider private. That counts as a sexual assault under colleges and universities under Title IX legislation and K-12 also, by the way, but not for the law.”
Jones said under Title IX, the university can fire employees and suspend or expel students who have performed some type of sexual misconduct. Some will choose to go through the Title IX process and will not pursue criminal charges, but others want to pursue criminal charges but not go through Title IX.
But if the perpetrator is not part of the university, she said the institution has no jurisdiction to investigate.
“So, there’s a difference between someone being sexually assaulted by another student and somebody being sexually assaulted by a community member that’s nothing to do with university,” Jones said. “You can still get lots of help, you can get supportive measures through Title IX … but the university isn’t going to investigate anything. If it didn’t happen on campus and it wasn’t a university person, the campus police don’t have jurisdiction. Title IX doesn’t have jurisdiction, so the criminal process is really different.”
She said she has done two Title IX hearings in the last month, and while they occurred over Zoom, it is still traumatizing for victims to retell their story.
“But it’s less traumatizing when you can do it virtually, remotely through Zoom,” Jones said. “[You] don’t have to be in the same room as the person.”
Vaquero Radio tried to contact the Office of Title IX & Equal Opportunity and the Counseling Center for an interview, but as of the airing of this report, they had not responded.
This is Victoria Gonzalez for Vaquero Radio.
