By Christiana Paradis (she/her), Director of Title IX Compliance
Many of my updates over the last year have reflected on the promise of amended Title IX Regulations. We received a copy of the Notice for Proposed Rule Making (NPRM) on July 12, 2022, and since then we have been in a state of limbo. The promised release date for final amended regulations in May 2023 came and passed as did the October 2023 release date.
While this notice provides a roadmap of what we think the final amended Title IX regulations might look like, until we receive the final version, nothing is guaranteed. So, what is taking so long and why are the final amended regulations being held up?
As mentioned back in my September article, there are huge disagreements about whether Title IX gender equity protections should extend to trans and non-binary students. The NPRM released last July received over 240,000 public comments. Many of these comments argued the new proposed regulations didn’t go far enough or went too far to protect individuals from sex and gender-based discrimination and harassment.
As the Department of Education has indicated it will plan to proceed with the protections for trans and non-binary students the debate has continued to rage on in many political spaces. Recently, a House bill was introduced that would bar the Department of Education from using its funding to enforce protections for LGBTQ+ students. While it is not clear whether this bill will gain traction, this attempt to block the regulations illustrates that the debate over Title IX protections will not go away anytime soon and these discussions will likely be heighted by the 2024 presidential election.
So where does this leave us? Your guess is as good as ours! While we may have final regulations by the end of this academic year that go into effect fall 2024, we could also receive them sooner. Additionally, depending on the outcome of the 2024 election the final amended regulations could remain in place, or they could be altered again.
Despite the ever-changing landscape of Title IX protections in the U.S., one thing that remains constant is our internal university policy and our devotion to addressing situations of harm on campus. Though Title IX may continue to evolve, we remain steadfast in our decision to address all forms of sex and gender-based discrimination and harassment, either through our Title IX process or through our community standards process.
If someone you know is experiencing harm on campus options are available. Transitions of PA offers free and confidential services, available 24/7, including a campus advocate in the VIP Center who can meet with you. Contact 1-800-850-7948 for their 24/7 hotline or stop in the VIP Center Monday through Friday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. for drop-in hours. Furthermore, the Title IX Office can help review options and connect you to additional campus services. You can file a Title IX Report here.
