The Wasatch Front, which encompasses the metropolitan areas of Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Provo, is home to some of Utah's best colleges and universities. Whether it's BYU, the University of Utah, or Weber State, being accepted into one of these schools is a tremendous accomplishment. Graduating from any of them requires hard work and discipline, but being investigated for a Title IX violation can ruin all that work overnight. You might be surprised to know how quickly you can find yourself in this situation.
Are you a Salt Lake City Metropolitan Area student being investigated for Title IX violations? It may come as a surprise to learn that an adverse result in one of these investigations can destroy your academic career and permanently harm your reputation. That's why it's a good idea to protect yourself by seeking quality legal representation. Call the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team at 888-535-3686 or contact us online today. We're here to fight for you.
What is Title IX and How Does it Affect College Students
Every college and university in the Wasatch Front aims to create an environment that is conducive to learning for all its students, regardless of gender. Today, it's not at all uncommon to see large numbers of female students attending college, participating in extra-curricular activities, and playing active roles in student governments. Unfortunately, that was not always the case.
Until 1972, it was perfectly legal for universities to discriminate against female students in a variety of ways. Some universities didn't accept applications from female students at all. Others may have accepted female students, but the environment on those campuses ranged from ambivalent to openly hostile toward their presence. There were even cases where schools had limited budgets for women's athletics, if they even had women's athletic programs at all.
Other schools went as far as barring female students from particular fields of study. Taken as a whole, these practices prevented multiple generations of women from pursuing academic opportunities that were available to their male contemporaries. That ended in 1972 with the passage of several education amendments that were designed to equalize access to college education. The most significant of these changes were enshrined in Title IX of the amendments.
How Title IX Works
Title IX formally prohibited gender-based discrimination in all forms at America's colleges and universities. It required universities that received federal funding of any kind to grant equal access to female students. This equal access applies to every aspect of the educational process. With the passage of Title IX, universities were no longer allowed to deny the ability to attend university or participate in university activities based on gender.
This legislation paved the way for the creation of women's athletics programs and required universities to allocate equal funding for men's and women's sports teams. It also required universities to create environments free of gender-based harassment or mistreatment. Academic departments were no longer allowed to deny access to female students, and co-ed facilities had to be equally well-apportioned to both male and female students.
Title IX's prohibition against gender-based harassment also applied equally to university administrators and university students. That means professors were required to issue grades and deal with female students using the same criteria they had for male students. However, it also applied to other male students at the university. In the eyes of Title IX, it's male and female students can't learn on equal footing if male students are free to harass female students based on gender.
That put universities in charge of policing the behavior of all its students to ensure Title IX compliance. In theory, this sounds like a perfectly reasonable requirement. In practice, it can become complicated because university students all hail from different backgrounds and have different life experiences. Those different experiences and world views can color students' perceptions of how they are being treated.
Who Enforces Title IX?
Title IX is part of amendments that were passed on the federal level by the United States Congress. That means Title IX enforcement and oversight take place at the federal level. At its core, Title IX is civil rights legislation, which means it falls under the purview of the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) of The United States Department of Justice (DOJ).
Title IX gives the OCR authority to investigate allegations of Title IX violations and sanction any school or university it perceives as having violated Title IX. The OCR determines sanctions for violations, and it has the authority to issue severe penalties against the offending institution. The OCR reserves its most severe sanctions for universities that are repeat offenders or that it believes allowed an environment hostile to female students to exist.
How do Title IX Investigations Begin?
A student who believes their Title IX rights have been violated or that they have witnessed a Title IX violation can make a report to the nearest branch of the OCR. Once that report has been filed, the OCR is required to investigate it. The results of the investigation will become a matter of public record.
The OCR Can Levy Severe Penalties
In those severe cases, the OCR can strip a university of its access to federal funding of any kind. That would bar any affected university from receiving federal funding for research, facility upgrades, or hiring additional staff. It would also mean students who want to attend that university would have to forgo the ability to use federal financial aid such as Sallie Mae loans or Pell Grants to pay tuition.
Although universities like Brigham Young and the University of Utah both have sizable endowments, they both depend heavily on continued access to federal funding to function. Losing access to this vital source of capital would hamstring the university in several key areas. It would also significantly reduce the university's prestige and standing with the public.
The fallout from such a punishment would also extend to the university administration. No administrator wants to be known as having been part of a team that was sanctioned for violating Title IX. It would be a stain on their resume that would make it very difficult for any administrator to pursue career opportunities at other universities.
It's not a stretch of the imagination to say that preventing Title IX violations is one of the most important aspects of any university administrator's job. The severity of the penalty and the public nature of the sanctions would be taken as a signal that any university administrators had failed in their chief responsibility. Most universities, including those in the Salt Lake Provo Ogden area, have taken proactive steps to ensure Title IX compliance.
How Universities Maintain Title IX Compliance
Every Salt Lake City Metro Area college or university has a Title IX department or a Title IX coordinator. Their chief responsibility is to maintain compliance with Title IX standards. This also means that students may file a report of a Title IX violation against a university professor, staff member, coach, or even a student with their university's compliance office.
Once they receive this report, Title IX departments (or coordinators) will launch an investigation into the allegations. That investigation will include alerting the person accused of the violation, interviewing the student(s) who made the complaint, and gathering any other available evidence. They will also seek to interview you about the allegation. We strongly recommend contacting our Student Defense Team before answering any questions.
It's perfectly understandable that your first reflex would be to defend your good name. However, the potential consequences of being found in violation of Title IX are severe enough that your interests may be better served by having legal representation throughout the process. Punishments the university can levy against you include:
- Public admonishment or reprimand
- Temporary suspension from the university
- Being ruled ineligible for participation in extra-curricular events sponsored by the university (e.g., band, athletics, fraternity membership)
- Permanent expulsion from the university
Remember, the university administration's top priority in a Title IX investigation is not being fair or impartial to the accused. It's demonstrating compliance with the current OCR standards. It's an unpleasant truth, but they would rather remove you from the university environment than face a loss of federal funding. In fact, removing you for a Title IX violation might be how the university demonstrates compliance with Title IX.
That's why having an advocate on your side is so important. Our Student Defense Team has fought for the rights of accused students in Title IX investigations all over the country. We are only committed to your well-being and helping to defend your good name. That's important because, despite the severity of the potential punishments, there is a great deal of ambiguity about what constitutes a Title IX violation.
Ambiguity in Title IX Enforcement
Some aspects of Title IX enforcement, such as equality in admissions or funding for women's sports, are fairly straightforward. However, other areas of Title IX, specifically sexual harassment, are more subjective. Theoretically, the OCR sets America's Title IX standards, but the OCR is part of the DOJ. The leadership of the DOJ is set by the Attorney General, who is appointed by the President of the United States.
That means the DOJ has new leadership every four to eight years, and the new Attorney General usually gets to pick their own department heads. Every time there is new OCR leadership, the standards for Title IX violations may change. Some are more aggressive about enforcement than others, and all this uncertainty filters down to the University Title IX office level.
University Title IX compliance offices and directors take their cue from the OCR. What this means for you, the student, is behavior that may have been perceived as sexual harassment during your freshman year may not be a violation in your sophomore year when a new OCR chief comes to power. This also leaves university compliance offices to their own devices when interpreting Title IX violations.
An offhand comment might be perceived as a Title IX violation for sexual harassment by BYU's Title IX office, while the Title IX coordinator at the University of Utah might interpret it entirely differently. The same thing applies to punishment. One school might reprimand you for the same conduct that another might expel you for.
Don't Take Chances With Title IX Investigations
When you consider the implications of punishment and the inherent uncertainty of what constitutes Title IX violations, you also understand why it's so important to have an advocate who is on your side. The Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team offers you an experienced and dedicated group of legal professionals who will fight fearlessly and tirelessly for your rights.
We will conduct our own investigation and gather our evidence in your case. Our team will also make sure that you are properly prepared for interviews with your university's Title IX officials. Most importantly, we're going to ensure that the process of investigating your case is impartial and that you don't become the victim of political considerations.
Your academic career shouldn't suffer due to ambiguity about what is or what isn't a Title IX violation. Our team is well-schooled in Title IX law, and we can fight for you on multiple fronts. Sometimes, schools don't follow their own due process in Title IX investigations and rush to judgment. We will hold them to the Title IX standards outlined in your student handbook and present the strongest case possible on your behalf.
Sometimes, that means negotiating directly with your University's Office of General Counsel (OGC) to reach a mutually beneficial settlement that allows you to continue working toward your education. We can also pursue action in the public courts if it becomes clear that you were subject to an unfair or biased investigation. Our team will not leave any stone unturned in defending your good name and rights as a student.
Real Advocates for Regular People
A Title IX investigation was probably the last thing on your mind when you decided to attend college in the Salt Lake City Metro Area, but it's possible for an offhand comment or genuine misunderstanding to ruin your academic career. It doesn't have to be that way. Being subject to a Title IX complaint can feel like everyone is against you, but that's not the case.
Our Student Defense Team stands ready to fight for your good name, reputation, and all the hard work you did to get into college in the first place. We pride ourselves in fighting for regular people who find themselves in irregular circumstances. Call the Lento Law Firm Student Defense Team at 888-535-3686 or contact us online today! The sooner you make the call, the sooner we can begin fighting the good fight together!
