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Women Denied College Admission
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 did not include the prohibition of gender discrimination within the education system. The fight for women's right to a higher education continued into the late 60’s when, in 1966, President Lyndon B. Johnson's own daughter was denied readmission into Georgetown University's nursing school for being a married woman (Mitchell & Ennis, 2007). -
Period: to
Title IX timeline
https://www.timetoast.com
The evolution of Title IX from its beginning to present time. -
Bernice Sandler Files Complaint
Bernice Sandler was a part-time instructor at the University of Maryland who was denied full-time employment for being “too strong a woman.” Sandler and The Woman's Equity Action League filed legal complaints against 260 universities using Executive Order 11375 – Equal Employment Opportunity (Schenken, 1999, p. 222). -
Title IX Enacted
Prior to the Title IX act, women did not have the same opportunities as men in higher education because they were not viewed as equal. Title IX prohibits federally funded educational institutions from discriminating against students or employees based on sex.
It provides fair treatments of sexes in all areas including athletics. -
First Draft of Title IX
Sandler's law suit caught the attention of U.S. House of Representatives, Patsy Mink (HI) and Edith Green (OR). Mink had been denied admission to 20 medical schools (Winslow, 2010), and the two co-authored the first draft of Title IX with the goal to prohibit discrimination in higher education based on gender. -
Beginning of Title IX
In the 92nd session of Congress, President Nixon vowed to make major changes to higher education legislation. Representative Edith Green used this session as an opportunity to attach her sex discrimination proposal to "the Educational Amendments" (Rose 2015). -
Richard Nixon Signs Title IX Into Law
President Nixon signs the Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 into law. Title IX states:
"No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance"
This included sexual harassment as sex discrimination. (http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/tix_dis.html) -
Tower Amendment
Senator John Tower (TX) did not like the changes that Title IX would make to college sports programs by allowing women to form teams. Tower proposes the “Tower Attachment,” which would exempt revenue-producing sports from Title IX compliance. This and all the future opposing amendments were unsuccessful, which in turn created marked disapproval from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (Carleton, 2002). -
Javits Amendment
The responsibility of Title IX's regulations was under the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW). The department welcomed recommendations from the public before the official regulations were published. Senator Jacob R. Javits (NY) wanted Title IX to exempt the requirement that all sports were to receive equal funding regardless of their size and maintenance responsibilities. (Mitchell & Ennis, 2007, p. 65). -
Title IX Regulations Enforced
President Ford approves Title IX regulations and it is enforced in July. Although the primary goal was to prevent sex discrimination at school’s receiving federal funds, the focus landed on funding women’s sports teams.
On July 21, 1975, universities using federal financial aid are give 3 years to comply. -
NCAA
NCAA challenges the legality of Title IX. The NCAA complained that boys’ sports would suffer if girls’ sports had to be funded equally. -
Yale's Sexual Assault on Campus
Students Ronni Alexander, Margery Reifler, Pamela Price, Lisa Stone and Ann Olivarius claimed that they were sexually harassed by male faculty and administrator. Because of these cases, Yale was required to implement a procedure for investigating sexual harassment complaints. This set the stage for future Title IX sexual assault reporting. (http://www.leagle.com/decision/1980809631F2d178_1757.xml/ALEXANDER%20v.%20YALE%20UNIVERSITY) -
3-Prong Test
HEW issues final policy interpretation on “Title IX and Intercollegiate Athletics.” The 3-Prong test had three main parts:
•The dominant theme of the material, taken as a whole, appeals to an average person's prurient interest in sex.
•The material is patently offensive because it affronts contemporary community standards relating to sexual matters.
•The material is utterly without redeeming social value. -
Department of Education
The Department of Education is established and charged with overseeing Title IX through the Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
On July 29, 1980, The OCR develops "The Investigator's Manual" as a tool to investigate equality in higher education. -
Grove City College v. Bell
The Department of Education revoked the financial assistance from Grove City College for non-compliance. The Supreme Court "restricted the application of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 at a private college that accepted no direct federal funding on its own but had large number of students who received federally funded grants" (Russo, 2009). -
Title VII
The Supreme Court held that Title VII prohibited workplace sexual harassment as a form of discrimination. Employers subject to title VII were required to adopt measures to prevent and respond to workplace sexual harassment – including rape – and mistreated employees could now report harassment to the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or sue in court (Brodsky & Deutsch, 2015). -
Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987
The Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987 is enacted into law over the veto of President Ronald Reagan. This act re-defined the interpretation of Title IX by establishing that if any program or activity in an education institution receives federal funds, all of the institution’s programs and activities must comply with Title IX. This Act reversed Grove City v. Bell by restoring the Title IX institution-wide coverage. -
Franklin v. Gwinnet
In Franklin v. Gwinnett County Public Schools, the Supreme Court rules that monetary damages are available under Title IX. Previously, only injunctive relief was available (i.e. the institution would be enjoined from discriminating in the future. -
Women’s College Enrollment Increases
By 1994, the impact of Title IX had shown an increase in female college enrollment. In 1994, 63 percent of female high school graduates were enrolled in college, as opposed to the 43 percent enrolled in 1973 (Schenken, 1999). -
Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act (EADA)
•Number of male/female participation slots
•Total operating expenses for men’s and women’s sports
•Number of male/female head coaches
•Number of male/female assistants
•Amount of athletics scholarship money allocated to males & females
•Salaries for coaches
•Amount of recruiting dollars for men/women
Annual reports of the above are now a requirement from any co-ed institution receiving federal student financial aid. -
Female Athletes Rise in Numbers
By 1995, the participation of female athletes in collegiate sports had also increased. The percentage of college female athletes had increased to 37 percent in contrast to the 15 percent in 1972 (Schenken, 1999). -
Cohen v. Brown University
A federal appeals court upholds a lower court’s ruling in Cohen v. Brown University, holding that Brown University illegally discriminated against female athletes. Brown argued that it did not violate Title IX because women are less interested in sports than men. The district court and the court of appeals rejected Brown’s argument. Many of the arguments made by Brown University are similar to those that are held by colleges and universities across the country. -
25th Anniversary of the Passage of Title IX
25th Anniversary of the Passage of Title IX -
Male College Sports Programs Cut
By 2002, Title IX's guidelines had enforced the termination of up to 170 wrestling programs and 45 track and field teams from universities such as Bowling Green University of Ohio. The goal was to equalize the amount of male sports to female sports. This resulted in coaches perceiving Title IX to be a de facto quota system (Pennington, 2002). -
Title IX Renamed
To honor Patsy Mink's influence on Title IX, President George W. Bush renamed the bill to the Patsy Mink Equal Opportunity in Education Act. -
Additional Clarification
The Department of Education issued a policy guidance (“the Additional Clarification”) that significantly weakens Title IX. Schools can now simply send out an e-mail survey to their female students, asking them what additional sports they might have the interest and ability in playing. If the survey responses do not show enough interest or ability, they do not have to add any sports – and are presumed in compliance with Title IX (WSF, 2009). -
Dear Colleague Letter
The Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) was a letter issued by the Department of Education advising schools of what constitutes as sexual violence and what their obligations are in order to be compliance with Title IX regulations. Every school must have a Title IX Coordinator available to students in order for them to report sexual violence incidents (http://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/letters/colleague-201104.html). -
Joe Biden
A non-legal binding guideline announced by VP Joe Biden on sexual harassment or violence required that institutions conduct investigations and discipline on the preponderance of the evidence standard, rather than that of beyond reasonable doubt. -
Sexual Harassment and Violence is Added to Title IX
The Department of Education issued a policy guidance making clear that Title IX protections against sexual harassment/violence apply to ALL students, including athletes. It requires schools to use the same procedures that apply to all students to resolve sexual violence complaints involving student athletes (WSF, 2009).
The DCL changed Title IX in that schools now had an outlined tool for them to use when dealing with sexual assault on campus. -
White House Calls for LGBT Anti-Bullying Prevention
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued guidelines in 2010 clarifying schools’ obligations to address bullying that violates any of the federal anti-discrimination statutes including “gender based” harassment of LGBT students that violates Title IX of the Education Amendments 1972 (Kimmel, 2016). -
Title IX Adds Pregnancy Protections
Title IX protects students from discrimination based on their “actual or potential parental, family, or marital status” or based on a student’s “pregnancy, childbirth, false pregnancy, termination of pregnancy or recovery therefrom.” (NWLC, 2012). -
40th Anniversary of Title IX
40th Anniversary of Title IX -
More Women Are Playing Sports
There are more women playing collegiate sports, about 200,000 than ever before. The number of female athletes at NCAA schools has increased from less than 30,000 to over 193,000 since 1972, but women still have over 60,000 fewer participation opportunities than their male counterparts (Dusenberry & Lee, 2012). -
University of Baylor Sexual Assault
Former players Tre’Von Armstead and Myke Chatman were named by Waco police in an incident report involving sexual assault, but they were never charged. Armstead was removed from the football program in September 2015, and the university expelled him in February. Chatman transferred to Sam Houston State University (Wacotrib.com. 2016). -
Adding Transgender
Non-legal binding guidelines were issued by the Department of Education stating that transgender students are protected from sex-based discrimination under Title IX. -
White House Task Force “Not Alone”
The White House Task Force to Protect Students Against Sexual Assault released a twenty-page report titled “Not Alone” which included strongly worded statements from President Obama and Vice President Biden on the epidemic of sexual violence taking place on college campuses (Smith, 2016). -
Universities Under Investigation
For the first time the Department of Education released a list of 55 colleges and universities under investigation for having mishandled sexual assault. -
Title IX Exemptions - George Fox University
In 2014, the Department of Education ruled in favor of George Fox University, allowing the Christian college to deny a transgender student housing equity. Two more Christian colleges followed after that. These schools are allowed to discriminate legally against students opposing a their religious beliefs. (Jaschik, 2014). -
Title IX Filings of Sexual Assault
Many victims are using Title IX to report encounters of sexual assault while on campus grounds and the errors made during the colleges' investigations. Currently, "174 post secondary institutions have a total of 220 pending Title IX alleged sexual violence cases under investigation" (Rozen, 2016). -
Low Protection for Women’s Sexual Violence
While OCR has dramatically improved its efforts to reform structural Title IX compliance across universities, and despite Office of Civil Rights criticizing schools for affording insufficient protections to victims alleging violations, it has done relatively little to promote complainants’ immediate access to education (Peterson & Ortiz, 2016). -
Rice University Band Marches Into a IX
Rice University's band march into an "IX" during a football game against Baylor. Students recognizing that Baylor University has not addressed their sexual assaults properly (Khan, 2016). -
Tea Video
Some colleges and universities are using the "tea video" to teach students about consent.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGoWLWS4-kU -
Lady Gaga Joins Forces With ItsOnUs.org
Lady Gaga made a powerful video about sexual abuse on college campuses, which she also at the Oscars. Many celebrities are coming together to help bring awareness to sexual assault.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmWBrN7QV6Y
Warning: This video contains content that may trigger memories, and strong emotions -
Transgender Protections Withdrawn
The new Trump administration withdrew the guidelines issued by the Obama administration that offered protection to transgender students in colleges and universities. This act leaves the transgender community at the mercy of bullying and increased sexual assault. -
The Future of Title IX
With the Trump administration already chipping away at the Title IX protections, Betsy DeVos announced her department will be "revamping" the Title IX guidance and protections. It is not a secret that DeVos has strong opinions against the LGBT community, nor that she believes the Obama administration did a disservice to colleges and universities with his policies. -
The Future of Title IX, cont'd
DeVos claims that the Dear Colleague letter and Obama's Not Alone policies are too ambiguous and need more defining terms to protect both parties in an assault case. While Baylor University has settled one sexual assault case it still has more pending. Enforcing Title IX is difficult enough and DeVos's plan to making changes now leaves the area of non-discrimination on campuses in a very scary place. I predict a very scary future for campus discrimination and sexual assault protections.
