The long arm of Title IX: on beyond sports
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Several years before the 2010 incident at Yale, students demonstrated in 2005 to protest the treatment of women there.
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When a group of fraternity pledges at Yale University marched across campus chanting "No means yes!" last autumn, the incident sparked a national discussion about the extent to which colleges must educate young people about consent and must respond when sexual violence occurs on campus.
In the months that followed, Yale's Delta Kappa Epsilon chapter issued an apology for its members' conduct, the university launched an investigation, and 16 students and recent alumni filed a joint federal civil rights complaint alleging that Yale's cumulative failure to address incidents of sexual harassment and sexual assault has resulted in a "hostile environment."
One female complainant said the environment "precludes women from having the same equal opportunity to the Yale education as their male counterparts."
Yale is now under federal investigation by the Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights and the university could, in an extreme outcome, lose federal funding as a result.
Why would it lose federal funding? Colleges and universities that receive such funding must comply with the mandate of Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972, which outlaws discrimination in education on the basis of sex.
Most people think of Title IX only in terms of equality in women's sports. But sexual harassment and sexual assault are considered forms of sex discrimination -- and are covered -- under Title IX. In the name of equal access, colleges must take steps to prevent them and protect students who report they have been victimized.
A spokesman for the Office of Civil Rights said last week the government would prefer to help campuses fine-tune their programs than act punitively against schools found to be noncompliant.
Before the office began its Yale investigation, Assistant Secretary Russlynn Ali, of the Office of Civil Rights, was preparing a 19-page letter to all school districts, colleges and universities across the country that get federal funding -- the first time that office has issued explicit guidelines on how to comply with Title IX on issues of sexual harassment and sexual violence, and take proactive steps to prevent these incidents.
First Published May 9, 2011 12:00 am
