The Title IX Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) published earlier this week is fundamentally flawed because it would treat sex-discrimination civil-rights protections unequally from other civil-rights enforced by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Notably OCR also enforces similar “race, color, and national origin” protections, under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but is not proposing to create complex new rules that would fundamentally weaken those protections.
If enacted the Title IX regulations would set-up sex-discrimination, including its most extreme form sexual violence, as a second-class civil-rights issue. Other forms of civil-rights violations, including race-based hate-crimes, would, for example, not be subject to a conduct proceeding where “cross-examination” by a representative of the accused is required. This would, however, be required in any proceeding involving sexual assault. Such disparity is inherently unequal.
The Title IX NPRM is also at odds with the mission statement of the Education Department (ED). It reads “ED’s mission is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.” If adopted the new regulations would not serve the purpose of “ensuring equal access” for the victims of sex-discrimination, who are predominately women.
At SAFE Campuses, LLC we work to ensure that everyone can learn, work, and enjoy the benefits of educational programs in safety. Because the inherently discriminatory nature of the Title IX NPRM is directly at odds with this core value we oppose it.
