Title IX is a federal civil rights law prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex in any educational program or activity receiving federal funding. Title IX was instituted almost 50 years ago to protect equal access to education.
As most of you know the way that Universities handle sexual misconduct has improved in the last decade. Universities can use trauma-informed practices and put into effect policies that are better for all parties. In November of 2017 Secretary of Education Betsy Devos withdrew the Title IX guidelines issued during the Obama administration that allowed for much of this reform.
This has the potential to take our universities back a number of steps. Individuals and collectives have until Tuesday, January 29 to comment on her proposed regressive changes. Advocates encourage as many people as possible to comment on these regulations. Many organizations have posted instructions on how to do this. The direct link to submit your comment is here:
https://www.regulations.gov/document?D=ED-2018-OCR-0064-0001
Please take ten minutes to do this! For those of us with no extra time (ummm, that would be all of us), the following sites distill down the issues in succinct text and provide a pre-formatted comment form.
There is a a website here that suggests comments. It has templates for letters and some data. The hastag is #HandsOffIX
The AAUW has an explanation and petition here. http://salsa4.salsalabs.com/o/50796/p/dia/action4/common/public/?action_KEY=25579
The UVa Women’s Center page on the subject is here. http://womenscenter.virginia.edu/2019/01/who-me-commenting-proposed-title-ix-regulations
Inclusive Excellence 