A year of blogging: Title IX’s 50th

February 21, 2023
Author events Book news Title IX

Twelve months ago I said I’d recognize Title IX’s 50th anniversary with a year of weekly blog posts here on 37 Words. I’ve focused each post on a particular Title IX topic in the news that week or on an upcoming event for my book 37 Words: Title IX and 50 Years of Fighting Sex Discrimination. I also provided a weekly curated summary of Title IX news stories, with links.

Speaking at Iowa State University, I showed video clips of people in *37 Words,* like this one of Bernice Sandler.

There are four months left until the 50th anniversary year ends on June 23, 2023. But my year-long project of weekly posts is complete. After today, I won’t be summarizing the week’s Title IX news stories. (There are so many!) I encourage you to set up your own Google alert or other search function if you want to scan the daily Title IX mentions on the Web. I’ll still be blogging when something particularly interesting happens.

And of course I’ll let you know when I’ll be speaking, as I did recently at Iowa State University. Here’s a video of my lecture there as the 35th Mary Louise Smith Chair in Women and Politics.

It’s been a lot of fun and eye-opening to see the waves of Title IX controversies that accumulated as the year progressed. Major themes from this year that appeared nearly every week: Sexual harassment and assault remain rampant on campuses, and students increasingly are demanding that their schools stick up for them. Women student athletes still get the short end of the stick, but when they sue for sex discrimination, they nearly always win. And extremist right-wing politicians are doubling down on their campaign of attacks on LGBTQ+ students, especially transgender athletes, featuring state laws that seem destined to end up before a very, very conservative Supreme Court.

Elsewhere

Here’s an example of something I’ll still blog about (and I may dive into more detail on this in my next blog post). The Department of Education just released several resources to help you determine if your school is meeting its obligations for fairness in athletics under Title IX.

Supporting Equal Opportunity in School Athletic Programs PDF(243K)
Title IX and Athletic Opportunities in K-12 Schools PDF (378K)
Title IX and Athletic Opportunities in Colleges and Universities PDF (421K)

Title IX advocates estimate that approximately 90% of schools and colleges do not comply with Title IX in athletics. It’s up to students, parents, and school staff or faculty to pay attention and demand better for girls and women in sports. These resources make that task easier.

Meanwhile, the women’s basketball coach at Riverside (Calif.) City College said she’s being harassed by men’s basketball and football players for suing the school for sex discrimination. A federal appeals court reinstated a legal appeal in a lawsuit by four cisgender athletes in Connecticut who sued to stop transgender athletes from competing. A Title IX activist filed a federal complaint alleging that the Boundary County School District, Bonners Ferry, Idaho discriminates against girls in its athletics programs. In response, the district said it would gather data on girls’s athletics.

So much for the mythical “cancel culture” — A prominent biologist who got fired by a research institute for sexual harassment and then resigned from a tenured faculty position at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology received a gift of millions of dollars to fund his research for the next five years. Louisiana State University closed nearly 300 complaints of sexual assaults in one year without disciplining any perpetrators, journalists reported. Nearly 70 Harvard University students protested the ongoing employment of a professor who the school placed on one semester of unpaid leave for sexual harassment and retaliation.

Just a reminder to read this excellent book by Know Your IX co-founder Alexandra Brodsky…

Another former student athlete sued North Carolina State University, claiming that the former director of sports medicine sexually abused him. A student sued Marshall University, Huntington, W. Va., for allegedly botching handling of her case after her boyfriend sexually assaulted her. A Tik Tok video by a former student at California Polytechnic University, Pomona went viral, accusing Cal Poly Pomona officials of “supporting rapists.” A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against the University of Minnesota by former football players who claimed discrimination after they were suspended or expelled for sexual assaults. Police are investigating the coach of men’s basketball at Missouri State University, Springfield for sexual misconduct, though a university report said allegations that the coach groped a former student at a charity golf tournament were “unfounded.” A district court gave the green light to a suit by a student claiming the University of Pennsylvania retaliated after she complained of sexual harassment. Parents of a Jacksonville (Fla.) University student athlete who killed herself after alleged bullying by her coach are suing the school. A former student at Myers Park High School, Charlotte, N.C. will appeal a jury decision that sided with the school district in saying officials were not deliberately indifferent after she was kidnapped, taken off campus, and sexually assaulted.

An interesting article in Ms. magazine reviews the areas of progress (or lack of it) in fighting sexual harassment and assault in K-12 schools (elementary and high schools). Parents accused a teacher at Stone Bridge High School, Ashburn, Va. of sexually harassing and assaulting multiple students, and said Loudon County Public Schools officials have been “unresponsive” to their complaints. A seventh-grade girl and another student witness reported a teacher at Ligonier (Penn.) Valley Middle School for inappropriate touching, and the girl’s mother expressed concerns that district officials are mishandling her complaint. A Kenmare (N.D.) Public School student sued after school officials found he had violated Title IX by telling another student that she shouldn’t be allowed to wear a gay pride flag.

Here’s a good summary of recent efforts by the Office for Civil Rights to enforce the rights of pregnant students under Title IX.

On the up side

Linfield University in McMinnville, Ore. agreed to pay more than $1 million to settle a lawsuit by a tenured professor who the university fired after he spoke out about alleged sexual misconduct and anti-semitism there.

The latest “Courage Brief” e-newsletter from the Center for Institutional Courage is so full of Title IX-related news and research findings and information about the great work they’re doing that I can’t possibly do it justice by reposting just a snippet or two here. I see it’s not yet up on their website, but I encourage you to subscribe to their mailings so you’ll get it in your own mailbox. You’ll be glad you did.

Where you’ll find me

Tuesday, March 21, 6:30 p.m. ET — In the first of a series of bookstore events I’ll be doing in March 2023 for Women’s History Month, I’ll be at Gibson’s Bookstore in Concord, N.H., the capitol of the Granite State. We’ll talk politics and education and, of course, Title IX.

Thursday, March 23, 5:30 p.m. ET — I’ll speak and sign books at the wonderfully named Bedlam Book Cafe in Worcester, Mass. Come have a bite and talk books with me.

Saturday, March 25, 2:00 p.m. ET — Meet me at Tatnuck Booksellerand Cafe in Westborough, Mass., and bring a friend!

Sunday, March 26, 3-5 p.m. — As part of the Be The Change series, I’ll be speaking at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Mass. with special guests from Know Your IX and the Women’s Sports Foundation. Each group will receive a donation equivalent to 20% of book sales during the event. I hope you can join us if you’re in the area. If not, please consider supporting these organizations.

Wednesday, April 5, 6 p.m. ET — Hello, Maine! Join me at the Baxter Memorial Library in Gorham to discuss Title IX’s fascinating history and current events.

Thursday, April 6, 12:30-1:30 p.m. ET — I’m looking forward to addressing the fabulous lawyers and students in the Maine Women’s Law Association, Portland.

Thursday, April 6, evening — Hey, Rockland, Maine: I may be coming your way too. Stay tuned for confirmation…