The Biden administration on Friday finalized new rules barring discrimination against LGBTQ+ students and changing the way schools investigate and respond to allegations of sexual misconduct. The regulations, which take effect in August, significantly broaden the scope of Title IX by extending federal anti-discrimination protections to transgender people and strengthening safeguards for victims of sexual harassment or assault, our D.C. bureau reported.
Let me get this down. (Photo by Getty Images)
“For more than 50 years, Title IX has promised an equal opportunity to learn and thrive in our nation’s schools free from sex discrimination,” Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said on a call with reporters on Thursday night. “These final regulations build on the legacy of Title IX by clarifying that all our nation’s students can access schools that are safe, welcoming, and respect their rights.”
The rules unravel a host of changes made during the Trump administration under former Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, who narrowed the definition of sexual assault and added protections for students accused of misconduct, including the right to cross-examine their accusers during mandatory live hearings conducted by schools. Those proceedings are no longer required under the new rules, though they’re still permitted, as long as colleges allow students to participate remotely and bar “unclear or harassing” questions. That change had long been a priority for victims’ advocates, who warned in 2020 that forcing survivors to face — and be questioned by — their attackers would discourage them from coming forward.
The regulations also strengthen protections for LGBTQ+ students but do not specifically address the politically fraught issue of whether transgender students should be permitted to play on sports teams that match their gender identity rather than their sex assigned at birth. The update instead offered a general recognition that “preventing someone from participating in school (including in sex-separate activities) consistent with their gender identity causes that person more than de minimis harm.”
The Department of Education will offer more specific guidance under a separate rule, according to a senior administration official. That policy, currently being finalized, will likely bar blanket prohibitions on transgender athletes competing in sports that align with their gender identity, the official said. At least 24 states have passed wide-ranging bans that would conflict with that rule, making it likely that you will, at some point, know how Clarence Thomas feels about this.
Goody. (Photo by Olivier Douliery/AFP via Getty Images)
A different rule change is wreaking havoc in Texas, where universities are laying off employees, ending scholarship programs and closing multicultural centers in an effort to comply with a new law banning diversity, equity and inclusion efforts at public colleges. At first, administrators thought those actions would be enough. They’re less sure now, the Texas Tribune reported.
“The legislative climate toward higher education has been moving. And it’s moved even since the bill was passed in June,” Jay Hartzell, president of the University of Texas at Austin, said Monday on a Zoom call with faculty. “We have to make choices to worry about the long-run future of the university.”
It’s a tenuous moment for leaders like Hartzell, who is attempting to appease staff and faculty as well as Republican lawmakers, who control the state’s academic funding and have already identified enforcement of the DEI ban as a legislative priority for the upcoming session. The policy, which took effect in January, bars schools from spending state money until they prove they’re in compliance. Those claims will be assessed at least once every four years by a state auditor, according to the law.
University of Texas at Austin President Jay Hartzell in 2022, which I have to assume was a happier time. (Photo by Lauren Witte/The Texas Tribune)
The policy is part of a larger effort to steer higher education in Texas away from what conservatives describe as an overly liberal direction. DEI programs and training play a key role in that process by “indoctrinating” students in left-wing ideology and “forcing” universities to hire employees based on diversity efforts rather than merit, according to Republican lawmakers.
“From my standpoint, and the members of the Senate Education Committee, it’s important that we feel comfortable knowing that the discriminatory DEI efforts are no longer in place,” said state Sen. Brandon Creighton, a Republican and the law’s architect.
Mostly, that’s meant widespread culling on college campuses across the state. Nearly 50 employees were laid off at UT-Austin, where Hartzell also ended a scholarship for undocumented students and disbanded the Division of Campus and Community Engagement, an office that was dedicated to supporting students who struggle the most to access education. Those actions came after the school received an out-of-compliance note from the coordinating board, according to Andrea Sheridan, the deputy to the president for governmental affairs and initiatives.
“We were able to make the adjustment and correct it and everything worked out fine. But a lot more of these are coming in,” Sheridan said.
“Software could see this gun, maybe. Or maybe not.” (Photo by Getty Images)
Things are no less stressful in Louisiana, where lawmakers have suddenly realized that schools might be less safe after a permitless-carry law takes effect in July. Their solution? Forcing the schools to buy expensive gun-spotting software, because of course that’s their solution, per the Louisiana Illuminator.
Under Senate Bill 442, schools would be required to purchase software identified in a federal anti-terrorism act, most of which costs between $10,000 and $50,000 — all very normal things to require of a school! It’s an excellent deal, too, because the programs — when used in conjunction within security cameras that are constantly monitored by “highly trained analysts” — can detect any firearm, as long as it’s not concealed. (Like it might be if, say, you have decided to take advantage of a law that allows you to carry a concealed weapon without a permit, for example.)
This is fine and within reason, because it’s all to protect the children, according to state Sen. Rick Edmonds, a Baton Rouge Republican and the bill’s author.
“Children on our campuses are not our commodities,” he told the Senate Education Committee on Wednesday. “They’re our babies. They’re our children, and we’ve got to do everything in our power to be able to protect them.”
Louisiana state Sen. Rick Edmonds, who possibly does not understand the meaning of “everything.” (Photo by Allison Allsop/Louisiana Illuminator)
Well, OK, not gun control, obviously. And not metal detectors, which would have been required under a bill proposed by a Democrat, who pulled it once it became clear there wasn’t enough support to push it through. (People just ignore those metal detectors anyway, according to state Rep. Barbara Freiberg, another Baton Rouge Republican.) But everything else!
Which, for now, means just the expensive software proposal, which was advanced out of committee along with a bill that would require elementary schools to teach a gun safety course. School districts could decide for themselves what type of instruction to offer, as long as it’s age- and grade-appropriate, and also if it’s free, because the legislature doesn’t want to pay for it.
Everything else, though!
