Title IX And Its Impact At UW-Madison
How the scope of Title IX has changed since its implementation
Written by Emma Goshin, Contributing Writer
Title IX, part of the Education Amendments of 1972, bars discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs and activities that collect funding from the federal government. Public knowledge of Title IX today typically reflects how federally funded sports are required to have the same number of men’s and women’s teams, to ensure gender equality. The act is essential to ensuring fair and equal treatment to individuals in educational settings, but Title IX has been both broadened and restricted at various times, consistently changing how women are protected by the federal government. This has caused uneasiness for victims of assault, and it is important to continue to fight for the protections that Title IX is supposed to grant us.
Title IX became an expansion in education in three other prominent ways: coursework, degree completion and job security. Regardless of gender, students can take any courses that they would like, instead of being forced into classes that align with gender stereotypes. As a result, the number of female engineers and male nurses has increased. Another educational impact of Title IX is the dramatic increase in the number of degrees that women have. When Title IX was signed in 1972, women only received 7% of law degrees and 9% of medical degrees (2021). Currently, 50.5% of medical school students and 51.3% of Law Students are female, showing encouraging change (Pisarcik, 2019).
Title IX also relieves women from worrying about expulsion due to pregnancy and parental status. If a woman who is a student at a federally funded university becomes pregnant, this statute legally protects her from discrimination based on that pregnancy (2020).
A typical Title IX goes as follows: a victim files a complaint with their university, and a formal investigation is conducted, potentially including collection and review of evidence and a hearing. After the hearing, a decision is made on whether or not there was a Title IX violation. An appeal is an option if the claim is dismissed as a non-violation.
While Title IX in its original state provided many protections and expansions of privilege to women, it has recently been caught in red tape, limiting the growth of its protections. In the last year, the Trump administration put new restrictions on how someone can make a Title IX claim, including a rule that individuals who are assaulted off of their college campus may not file a report under Title IX.
This has implications for students at the University of Wisconsin-Madison as well. 75% of UW-Madison’s students live off-campus, meaning that when an assault occurs, it is more likely that it would take place off-campus (Walters, 2020). Madison and UW are connected, with students constantly crossing the borders moving from campus to off-campus locations. Sexual assault survivors who experienced this violence off-campus are now left to move forward without being able to file a claim under Title IX. The on-campus requirement is only one of many new restrictions on this law. Cross-examinations and a narrower definition of sexual harassment limit the scope of Title IX.
If we continue to allow the cutback of Title IX, we are putting victims in a chokehold where they are unable to report their instances of violence. UW-Madison’s site for Title IX contains information on how to report an instance of assault, student and staff support pages and self-protection training. University Health Services also offers drop-in Survivor Services where victims and survivors of assaults may receive confidential support.
Despite these challenges, things may be looking up for reexpansion of Title IX. President Joe Biden has publicized his agenda to roll back the Trump administration’s rules and restrictions on the law. In a 2020 campaign statement by Biden, the soon-to-be President responded to Trump’s limitations by saying that they gave “colleges a green light to ignore sexual violence and strip survivors of their rights” (Smith, 2021).
With the new presidential administration and the effort of UW-Madison to help survivors, Title IX can remain an effective law. While it is important to be proud of the protections we have provided, such as in reproductive discrimination, sports equality and education, we need to continue to push our legislators to protect us. Title IX has brought women so far and still does today. The recent dangerous restrictions leave uncertainty for students and victims, and protecting them should be our first priority.
If you or someone you know needs help, please visit any of the following websites or call the UHS sexual assault helpline:
https://compliance.wisc.edu/titleix/
call 608-265-5600 (option 1)
Works Cited:
5 ways Title Ix Changed education for the better. (2021, March 01). Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://everfi.com/blog/colleges-universities/title-ix-positive-changes/
Americans of all political stripes expect 2020’S fake news to be biased against their side. (n.d.). Retrieved March 17, 2021, from https://www.niemanlab.org/2020/02/americans-of-all-political-stripes-expect-2020s-fake-news-to-be-biased-against-their-side/
Pisarcik, I. (2019, March 05). Women outnumber men in law school classrooms for third year in a row, but statistics don’t tell the full story. Retrieved March 12, 2021, fromhttps://www.jurist.org/commentary/ 2019/03/pisarcik-women-outnumber-men-in-law-school/
Searing, L. (2019, December 23). The big number: Women now outnumber men in medical schools. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/the-big-number-women-now-outnumber-men-in-medical-schools/2019/12/20/8b9eddea-2277-11ea-bed5-880264cc91a9_story.html
Smith, T. (2021, March 10). Biden begins process to undo Trump Administration’s Title ix rules. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.npr.org/2021/03/10/975645192/biden-begins-process-to-undo-trump-administrations-title-ix-rules
Survivor services. (n.d.). Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://www.uhs.wisc.edu/survivor-services/
Title IX Notice of Non-Discrimination on the Basis of Gender or Sex. (n.d.). Retrieved March 24, 2021, from https://www.csub.edu/equity-inclusion-compliance/title-ix
Walters, A., & UW-Madison. (2020, August 16). UW schools NAVIGATE new, controversial Title IX CHANGES. Retrieved March 12, 2021, from https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/education/university/uw-schools-navigate-new-controversial-title-ix-changes/article_a90bc997-1e14-5ca3-af3a-416ae0597794.html