Speak your mind on DeVos and Title IX

We’re at a pivotal moment in Title IX history. Not since 1975 has the Department of Education changed the regulations governing Title IX, the 1972 law prohibiting sex discrimination in education. The Trump Administration now is going all-out to see that its definition of sex discrimination becomes the law of the land and to limit how schools are allowed to respond to it. Women’s advocates are fighting back, but Education Secretary Betsy DeVos gave the public only until Jan. 29, 2019 to submit comments for or against her new Title IX rules. Groups like Know Your IX, End Rape on […]

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Scientists say Title IX isn’t enough

Title IX doesn’t always work. It won’t save a student from being deported if she’s an undocumented immigrant. Title IX has never given women a fair share of athletics funding or coaching jobs. As a legal tool, Title IX isn’t much help to students, staff, or faculty who feel too vulnerable to complain about sex discrimination. A new report highlights its weaknesses in stopping sexual harassment in academic sciences. While this civil rights law produced many, many important changes in society, it’s worth noting its weak spots as we celebrate the 46th anniversary of Title IX on June 23. Title […]

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Systemic sexism cracking under #MeToo

We’re in a #metoo cultural moment that’s removing blinders about systemic sexism. Let’s look at how we got here and explore what comes next. If we do that honestly, feelings come up — anger, embarrassment, shame, regret. There’s probably not one of us who doesn’t wish we had understood things better earlier, hadn’t gone along with some of the sexist confines of our culture, had behaved differently in particular situations, or had been heard by others sooner. This goes for both men and women. It’s important to recognize these feelings, and equally important to channel them into positive action. Anyone […]

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Title IX case bridged Black, women’s movements

Pamela Price entered Yale University in 1974 as a Black nationalist with an Angela Davis-style afro. She’d never heard of Title IX and wasn’t attracted to any of the women’s organizations on campus. She put her heart and energies into the Black community and working for civil rights. By the time she graduated in 1978, though, Price was one of a handful of women at the heart of a pivotal legal case that established for the first time that Title IX covers sexual harassment — Alexander v. Yale. Her involvement bridged the Black rights and women’s rights movements on campus. Thus began a chain […]

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XhpqXfl6340&feature=youtu.be

National Lawyers Guild honors Title IX shero

Like many of today’s undergraduates who have spoken up about sexual assaults and harassment on college campuses, a sense of outrage drove Pamela Price  to complain to Yale University officials after a male faculty member offered her an A grade in exchange for sex. Implying, of course, that he’d lower her grade if she didn’t submit. Her final grade: C. But that was in 1976, and the grade wasn’t the end of the story. Price and her allies filed the first legal complaint against sexual harassment under Title IX. Their years-long legal battle — known initially as Alexander v. Yale before the court reduced it to […]

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Hunting Ground documentary in crosshairs of history

The San Francisco Chronicle published my op-ed article about women finding their voices to speak out against sexual assault and harassment on campuses. It’s online now; look for it in print on Thursday, Nov. 19. This Sunday, Nov. 22, CNN will televise the documentary The Hunting Ground about the handling of sexual assaults at colleges and universities. You can watch or record it at 5 p.m. Pacific time (8 p.m. Eastern), followed by a discussion panel featuring the filmmakers and others. Director Kirby Dick and Producer Amy Ziering (creators of the Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated documentary The Invisible War) took some heat […]

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