April 2011
The Schooling Division underneath former President Barack Obama points a “Dear Colleague” letter outlining instructional establishments’ obligation to guard college students from sexual harassment and sexual violence underneath Title IX. The steering states that even a single episode of sexual misconduct may represent a hostile instructional setting and doubtlessly set off faculties’ Title IX obligations.
The 2011 steering is broadly thought of to be a catalyst for elevated nationwide consideration on campus sexual violence. It additionally grew to become the topic of criticism from due course of activists who argued the steering put an excessive amount of stress on faculties to carry accused college students chargeable for sexual misconduct.
April 2014
A Q&A document from the Schooling Division serves as a follow-up to the 2011 Expensive Colleague Letter. It makes an attempt to make clear the provisions of the 2011 steering, together with when the division considers an establishment to have identified about an episode of sexual misconduct, procedural necessities, and staff’ duties to report sexual violence.
Could 2016
The Schooling and Justice departments publish guidance detailing how Title IX protects transgender college students. The companies inform establishments they have to use college students’ pronouns that match their gender identification, even when different paperwork point out a special intercourse. The steering additionally states that faculties should permit transgender college students to make use of locker rooms and different services that align with their gender identification.
February 2017
The Senate narrowly confirms Schooling Secretary Betsy DeVos, appointed by then-President Donald Trump. Later that very same month, the Schooling Division rescinds the guidance on transgender scholar protections underneath Title IX.
September 2017
DeVos withdraws the Obama administration’s 2011 steering and the 2014 follow-up Q&A. The move garners sharp criticism from Democratic lawmakers and advocates for sexual assault prevention, and accolades from civil liberties activists.
On the identical time DeVos revokes the Obama-era pointers, she issues interim guidance on how faculties should reply to sexual misconduct. This non permanent steering permits faculties flexibility on the evidentiary normal they use in evaluating sexual misconduct circumstances and likewise lets them use casual resolutions, similar to mediation, to resolve them.
November 2018
The Schooling Division underneath DeVos releases its draft rule on Title IX. It accommodates contentious provisions, notably that schools ought to maintain a dwell listening to to adjudicate sexual misconduct circumstances. Throughout these hearings, accused college students and their accusers have to be allowed to cross-examine one another by means of an adviser, the proposal states. The department invites public comment on the draft regulation.
Could 2020
Having reviewed greater than 120,000 feedback on the proposed rule, the department publishes the ultimate iteration of the regulation. The overwhelming majority of the feedback opposed the rule, however it largely preserves the draft DeVos had proffered a yr and a half prior.
August 2020
DeVos’ rule takes impact. Greater training teams, led by the American Council on Schooling, had pleaded for the secretary to delay implementation of the rule in mild of the coronavirus pandemic, a name DeVos didn’t heed.
January 2021
President Joe Biden takes workplace. Instantly, he issues an executive order stating everybody ought to obtain equal remedy underneath federal legislation, no matter sexual orientation or gender identification. His order cites Title IX.
March 2021
Biden signs an executive order that partly directs the Schooling Division to judge the Trump administration’s Title IX rule, which as a candidate he had pledged to undo.
June 2021
The Biden administration formally announces it will replace the DeVos rule with its personal regulation. The identical month, the Schooling Division said it interpreted Title IX to guard college students based mostly on their sexual orientation and gender identification. The division’s resolution was rooted in a 2020 Supreme Court docket ruling — Bostock v. Clayton County — that established these protections in federal employment legislation.
December 2021
The Schooling Division announces it plans to release its proposed Title IX rule in April 2022, shifting the date up from an preliminary publishing schedule of Could. This displeases sexual assault prevention advocates, a few of whom had known as for a faster timeline.
April 2022
The division says it will delay the draft Title IX rule till Could 2022, not April.
