Contributed by: Aiden Graybeal
Title IX has become a major political topic for ETSU and other state colleges in Tennessee. State Representative John Ragan sent a letter outlining his concerns regarding what our school’s policy is and how it may violate state law. With these issues surrounding ETSU’s Title IX policy, I have been asked to briefly explain what that policy is, what it means, where it comes from and what has changed given recent events.
Title IX is a federal law, enacted as a part of the Educational Amendments of 1972. It is only 37 words, reading: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
This means that you are protected by a federal law against discrimination on the basis of sex at any school or college that receives federal money. But “sex” has a wider definition than many people realize. According to the US Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, “sex” includes sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, pregnancy, parenthood and more. This definition of “sex” resulted from court cases and regulations.
In practical terms, this means that if you feel you have been discriminated against by ETSU, a staff member, housing, an organization or another student, you can file a complaint with the school’s Title IX Compliance Office. Title IX also protects you from sexual assault and harrassment, as this extends to “sex” as sexual attraction (in this case unwanted expressed sexual attraction). From there, the school will do what it can to remedy the issue.
However, if the school fails to protect your right against discrimination on the basis of sex, you could potentially sue them for violating your rights. So, in addition to its main goal of protecting students, the Title IX Compliance Office exists to prevent the school from being sued by students for failing to protect them.
The controversy at ETSU arises from a recent letter from Representative Ragan of the Tennessee General Assembly. One of the regulations the US Department of Education put in place requires colleges to specify that Title IX protects students on the basis of sexual orientation and gender and threatens to remove federal money from schools who don’t comply. This would effectively bankrupt any public college. About one year after that regulation was put in place, the State of Tennessee sued the US Department of Education. A federal judge agreed and told the Department of Education to end the regulation.
Ragan’s letter states that, according to this ruling, including information on the Title IX website for ETSU is not required by any regulation. Further, it is not authorized by any state law. In essence, no one told ETSU they have to or are allowed to put this information up. Ragan concludes by saying that ETSU should remove any information that says sexuality and gender identity are protected by Title IX. Importantly, however, this does not mean that these are not protected groups, only that Ragan wants references to these groups removed.
This is a complicated political issue. But while the wording of the website is now unclear, any student who feels harassed or discriminated against on the basis of sex, sexuality or gender identity, or has suffered sexual assault, can talk to the Title IX Compliance Office. College is meant to be a place to learn and have fun; if you need help, reach out to the people whose job it is to help you.
