Tag: Title IX

Bill to Withhold Funds from Schools That Allow Transgender Athletes Passes Tennessee House

Peter D'Abrosca

A bill that would strip some funding from schools who break Tennessee’s new law on transgender athletes Thursday passed the Tennessee State House of Representatives. 

“I’m very pleased that the House passed this legislation and I’m confident the Senate chamber will pass it as well. It’s illogical to think sporting competitions involving speed, strength and endurance with males competing against females is a fair contest,” State Rep. John Ragan (R-District 33), the primary sponsor of the bill, told The Tennessee Star Friday.

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Judge Orders Nashville Metro Public Schools to Pay Student Sex Assault Victim $75,000

Morgan Nicole Veysey

Metro Nashville Schools must pay a former student $75,000, Judge Aleta A. Trauger ordered recently. The court’s decision stems from a 2017 lawsuit filed by the mother of a then-15 year old girl, referred to as “S.C.,” who was allegedly raped at Hunters Lane High School by a fellow student. The assault was video recorded and then disseminated.

Judged Trauger wrote that “the video – which was, by any reasonable definition, child pornography – spread quickly, both between S.C.’s peers and on third-party websites.”

S.C. did not return to campus after the assault, court documents note, and while she was considered a ‘homebound’ student, “she had been harassed by students seeking to discourage her participation in MNPS’s investigation into the events.” She and her family received multiple threats.

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Democratic Activist Calls Virginia Parents’ Lawsuit Against School over Sexual Assault Allegations a ‘Witch Hunt’

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A Democratic activist told Loudoun County conservative parents that they are part of a “witch hunt” during a press conference condemning the district’s recent handling of sexual assault allegations within its high schools, Fox News reported Thursday.

At the press conference, Ian Prior, executive director of Fight For Schools and former Trump administration official, called on the superintendent to resign and asked the Justice Department to begin a Title IX investigation into its handling of the sexual assault allegations, Fox News reported.

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Several Women Sue Eastern Michigan University over Sexual Assaults

Peter D'Abrosca
Eastern Michigan University

Less than two weeks after a woman was found unresponsive in a dormitory after allegedly being raped by several men, four former students at Eastern Michigan University (EMU) are suing the school. 

The women were assaulted years ago, but decided to bring suit after the latest case of sexual assault on campus. They claim that the school isn’t doing enough to combat predatory behavior. 

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Biden’s Education Department Won’t Enforce a Key Due Process Protection for Students Accused of Sexual Assault

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The Department of Education announced it would stop enforcing a Trump administration rule designed to protect those accused of sexual assault on college campuses.

A district court in Massachusetts upheld most of the Title IX 2020 amendments in a July ruling, maintaining new regulations related to public institutions managing allegations of harassment, assault, violence, and more. Although, the court struck down one procedural regulation related to what evidence a “Decision-Maker,” or the employee who is designated to adjudicate the case, may consider in making rulings.

Following the court ruling and a letter from the Department of Education on Tuesday, the chosen adjudicator can now consider emails and texts between the parties and witnesses, police reports and medical reports, regardless of cross-examination status at the live hearing.

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Biden’s Office for Civil Rights Pick Questioned on Her Position on Campus Due Process

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Catherine Lhamon’s (right) work in President Barack Obama’s administration on Title IX issues may have won her praise from liberal groups and organizations representing alleged and confirmed victims of sexual assault, but it drew criticism from the ranking member of the Senate’s education committee.

President Joe Biden has nominated Lhamon to lead the federal Office for Civil Rights in the Department of Education, the same position she held under Obama. But Senate Republicans and due-process advocates have questioned her position on the rights of accused students.

Republican Senator Richard Burr said he is concerned that Lhamon “will charge ahead unraveling significant pieces of the previous administration’s Title IX rules.” He made the comments during a July 13 Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee meeting.

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Education Department Civil Rights Nominee Rejects Presumption of Innocence for Accused Students

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Catherine Lhamon

The Biden administration’s nominee to lead the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights told a Senate committee Tuesday that a year-old Title IX regulation does not require the presumption of innocence for students accused of sexual misconduct.

The claim drew bafflement from critics of Catherine Lhamon, who held the same job in the Obama administration’s second term.

In response to threats from Lhamon to pull their federal funding, colleges lowered evidentiary standards and enacted policies that treat accusers more favorably than accused students. Courts have been steadily reining in those practices, sometimes citing the pressure from Lhamon’s office as evidence of bias.

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Biden Administration Won’t Define ‘Sex’ as Biological as Title IX Review Starts

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Women's soccer game

The Biden administration has rejected a petition to define sex in biological terms as it reviews the Trump administration’s Title IX policies on women’s sports and sexual misconduct proceedings.

The rejection came a day after the Department of Education announced it was soliciting public input on implementing President Biden’s March 8 executive order on sex discrimination.

The Women’s Liberation Front (WoLF), a self-described radical feminist group that opposes transgender policies, said it was pleased that the department did not reject its legal arguments out of hand.

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Exclusive: Alliance Defending Freedom Files Motion to Intervene in ‘Radical’ Lawsuit Attacking Religious Schools

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Football player kneeling, praying on bench seat

Alliance Defending Freedom has filed a motion to intervene in a “radical” lawsuit attacking the religious freedom of both religious colleges and students attending these schools, ADF senior counsel David Cortman told the Daily Caller News Foundation Monday.

Former and current students of evangelical colleges filed a lawsuit last week against the Department of Education asking that a Title IX law that gives exemptions to religious educational institutions be declared unconstitutional.

The law currently forbids educational institutions receiving federal funds to discriminate on the basis of sex but exempts religious groups if the law “would not be consistent with the religious tenets of such organization.”

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Seven Michigan Tech Programs Discriminate Against Males, Title IX Complaint Alleges

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Michigan Technological University has seven federally funded programs and scholarships that do not enforce Title IX’s prohibition of sex discrimination against men, alleges a complaint filed with the Office for Civil Rights.

It was filed March 2 by University of Michigan-Flint economics Professor Mark Perry.

The complaint was influenced, Perry said, by Michigan Tech associate professor of electrical and computer engineering Jeffrey Burl’s recent letter. In it, Burl alleges he has been “systematically discriminated against” as a white male at MTU during his 28-year career there.

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Tennessee Legislators Likely to Pass Bill Tackling Gender and Interscholastic Sports

Chris Butler

A bill in the Tennessee General Assembly would require that middle school or high school students’ biological gender determine whether they may participate in interscholastic sports specifically tailored either for males or females. Supporters of the bill told The Tennessee Star Friday they believe the bill will pass both the state house and the state senate.

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Mark Green Commentary: Biden’s Radically Divisive Executive Order Will Destroy Women’s Sports

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Months after we celebrated the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage, one of President Biden’s first actions marks a drastic setback for women across this country. The President’s Executive Order instructs the Department of Education to allow transgender women – biological men who identify as women – to compete in women’s sports. Federally funded institutions are now being forced to allow biological men access to women’s sports and scholarships meant for women in sports. This move erodes the foundations of Title IX, is unfair to women, and is a massive overreach by the Federal government. 

Congress passed Title IX in 1972 to help break the glass ceiling for women, but President Biden’s Executive Order reinstates that very glass ceiling. Title IX was predicated on the fact that the biological makeup of males and females differ dramatically. That’s the reason Congress passed this important legislation – to grant women fair access to federal funding for sports and academics. Prior to Title IX, only 1 in 27 women played varsity sports, but today nearly half of girls participate in varsity sports. Before Title IX only 32,000 women competed in college sports, now 150,000 women do. Prior to Title IX athletic scholarships were virtually non-existent, now there are nearly 10,000 athletic scholarships for women.

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Bill to Ban Biological Men from Women’s Sports Gains Bipartisan Support in Congress

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Rep. Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii) introduced legislation to ban biological males from participating in women’s sports.

Gabbard, a Democrat who ran for the 2020 presidential nomination for her party, is the sponsor of H.R. 8932, the “Protect Women’s Sports Act,” alongside Reps. Markwayne Mullin, (R-Okla.), Bill Flores (R-Texas), Bill Johnson (R-Ohio), Rep. Alexander Mooney (R-W.V.), and Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-S.C.).

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University of Minnesota Will Cut Only Men’s Sports Due to COVID Financial Strains, Cites Title IX

Corinne Murdock

The University of Minnesota (UMN) announced Thursday that it will cut four men’s sports due to pandemic-induced financial strains. Men’s indoor/outdoor track and field, gymnastics, and tennis will be cut after the 2020-21 competition season.
Comparatively, the women’s indoor/outdoor track and field, gymnastics, and tennis lost more money than the men’s teams: $4.8 million versus $3.4 million. Other women’s sports cost the school more. Women’s basketball, gymnastics, hockey, swim and dive, and volleyball alone totaled about $14 million in the red. 

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Betsy DeVos Implements More Title IX Protections for College Students Accused of Sexual Misconduct

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Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos unveiled several new rules that will be changed regarding Title IX protections for college students accused of sexual misconduct, as reported by CNN.

The changes involve increased legal protection for the accused, including the right during trial to cross-examiner their accusers. In a statement regarding the implementation, DeVos said that “too many students have lost access to their education because their school inadequately responded when a student filed a complaint of sexual harassment or sexual assault.”

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University of Tennessee and University of Memphis Have Several Title IX Complaints Filed Against Them

Chris Butler

People in Tennessee lodged far more Title IX discrimination complaints against the University of Tennessee and the University of Memphis than other public entities in the state that take federal money, according to a new report. In laymen’s terms, that means a lot of people allege school officials discriminated against them because of their gender. More specifically, Title IX says no education program that takes federal taxpayer money can discriminate based on sex, and it includes protections against sexual harassment. According to a new report from Tennessee Comptrollers, the University of Memphis had 153 Title IX complaints in Fiscal Year 2018, a slight increase from 152 in Fiscal Year 2017. Schools in the University of Tennessee System, meanwhile, had 162 Title IX complaints in Fiscal Year 2018. The UT system had 166 such complaints in Fiscal Year 2017 and 129 in Fiscal Year 2016, according to the Comptrollers’ report. In an emailed statement, Kenneth P. Anderson, the University of Memphis’ Title IX coordinator for the Office of Institutional Equity, said the high number of complaints is “a positive.” “They speak to the University’s efforts to seriously address interpersonal violence and sexual misconduct,” Anderson told The Tennessee Star. “The University of…

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ACLU Criticized For Suggesting Title IX Proposal Inappropriately Favors The Accused

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by Neetu Chandak   The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is receiving push back after suggesting a U.S. Department of Education proposal for Title IX reform “inappropriately” favored the accused, on Twitter Friday. The DOE released a proposal Friday with sweeping changes to Title IX, a federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in education programs receiving government financial assistance. Changes ranged from narrowing the definition of “sexual harassment” to stronger protections for the accused. It promotes an unfair process, inappropriately favoring the accused and letting schools ignore their responsibility under Title IX to respond promptly and fairly to complaints of sexual violence. — ACLU (@ACLU) November 16, 2018 “It promotes an unfair process, inappropriately favoring the accused and letting schools ignore their responsibility under Title IX to respond promptly and fairly to complaints of sexual violence,” the ACLU tweeted Friday. Title IX is a federal statute passed as part of the Education Amendments of 1972. “Far too many students have been forced to go to court to ensure their rights are protected because the Department has not set out legally binding rules that hold schools accountable for responding to allegations of sexual harassment in a supportive, fair manner,” Secretary of…

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Ohio State’s Meyer Put on Leave, Inquiry Opened

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Urban Meyer

Urban Meyer’s job appears to be in jeopardy. Ohio State placed Meyer, one of the most successful coaches in college football history, on paid administrative leave Wednesday while it investigates claims that his wife knew about allegations of domestic violence against an assistant coach years before the staff member was fired last week. Courtney Smith, the ex-wife of fired Buckeyes assistant Zach Smith, gave an interview to Stadium and provided text messages to former ESPN reporter Brett McMurphy between her and Shelley Meyer in 2015 about Zach Smith’s behavior. Courtney Smith also provided threatening texts she said came from her ex-husband, and text messages between her and other wives of Buckeyes assistant coaches, discussing Zach Smith. “Shelley said she was going to have to tell Urban,” Courtney Smith told Stadium. “I said: ‘That’s fine, you should tell Urban.’” Zach Smith, who has never been convicted of any crimes, was fired last week after an Ohio court granted a domestic violence protective order to Courtney Smith. A message left by the AP for Zach Smith’s attorney, Brad Koffel, requesting comment was not immediately returned. Ohio State Title IX Meyer is heading into his seventh season at Ohio State, where he is…

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