Changes are proposed to Title IX regulations nationwide that could impact college campuses.
The U.S. Department of Education released Nov. 18 a Notice of Proposed Rule Making (NPRM), which is a 150-page document that would change existing Title IX regulations. Title IX regulations protect students at federally funded schools from discrimination based on sex or gender. The regulations identify sexual harassment, sexual assault and rape as sex-based discrimination.
Betsy DeVos, Secretary of Education, spearheaded the proposed changes in September 2017.
A 60-day period for people to review the documents and send comments to the government began Nov. 29 and ends Jan. 28.
The proposed regulations and breakdowns of what they mean can be found at federalregister.gov. A list of all of the regulations that would either be amended, removed or added can be found in the “background” section, said Remy Barnett, OCU’s Title IX investigator.
The proposed changes include:
– University officials would be able to choose between the two standards of proof—“Preponderance of the Evidence” and the higher standard of proof, “Clear and Convincing.” “Preponderance of the Evidence” means that there must be a greater than 50 percent chance that a claim is true. Civil courts use this standard, which applies to cases involving divorce, car accidents, etc. University officials currently use this standard. “Clear and Convincing” dictates that evidence be highly more likely to be true than untrue.
– There would be a change in the way university officials would request religious exemptions from the law. Religious exemptions currently are allowed when the law conflicts with religious beliefs. For exemption, university officials must write a letter to government officials, identifying the conflict and requesting exemption. The proposed change would allow institutions to exempt the conflict on their own without submitting a letter to government officials.
– Each party in a sexual misconduct hearing would be allowed to bring an adviser, parent, attorney, mentor, etc. to ask questions of the other party on their behalf, rather than having a neutral person asking questions.
“Before these regulations are finalized, the government has an obligation to respond to all substantive comments,” Barnett said. “They will basically release a document that goes over the comments they’ve received, their responses to that, and really clarifying a lot of the new regulations they’re proposing.”
Comments can be made directly to the federal register website, federalregister.gov/.
OCU’s Title IX officials and Student Civic Engagement Committee members are partnering to host an event called “Comment and Chill” from 6-9 p.m. tonight in the Great Hall in Tom and Brenda McDaniel University Center. Title IX officials also received assistance from Student Activities Council in the planning of the event, which is to help inform students about the potential changes and how they can address them.
The event is to provide students with information, not to argue about policies, Barnett said.
“I don’t see this as a space for debating the merits of any particular part of the regulations. I see this more as an opportunity for comradery, for mutual support, so we can all do this civic duty together and have each other’s backs throughout that,” Barnett said.
“Students are some of the folks that are most directly impacted by things like this, and I think it’s really critical that students have an active voice in shaping these kinds of policies. Commenting will always make a difference. It always matters. Regardless of the next step, it still matters.”
The event is meant to help the campus community, said Taylor Downey, youth ministry sophomore and Title IX program coordinator.
“Because the regulations are a lot to get through, we wanted a space where people could come get a brief summary of what the biggest changes to Title IX would be if these regulations were passed,” Downey said. “We also want to help people make comments that won’t be disregarded by the federal government.”
Comments that don’t contain a certain level of formality or seriousness can be a waste of time for everyone involved, Downey said.
“The whole point is just to have a chill space where people can do their civic duty, but also have a good time,” Downey said.
The free, come-and-go event is open to the campus community.
Students should do their own research and learn as much about the regulations as possible, especially if they can’t attend the event, Downey said.
“Our campus is pretty good about making their voice heard, and this is something that’s way bigger than just our campus, but even so, it’s something that we can still be a part of,” Downey said.
Downey said OCU, as a campus community, should appreciate the protection of Title IX on college campuses for students, faculty and staff from gender-based discrimination and sexual harassment. She said the potential changes are important because they will impact the current and future campus community.
There are small flyers around campus containing a QR Code that digitally directs students to the regulations and the place to comment.
Trae Trousdale, mass communications sophomore and director of the Student Civic Engagement Committee, said, as soon as he learned of the potential Title IX regulation changes, he knew the committee should be involved in helping reach students.
“Our goal is to coordinate, produce and direct civically engaging activities for our student body. That’s not only for students that live here in Oklahoma and are civically engaged in our local communities, but also how can our students that are from out of state still be engaging with their communities, both at home and here in their new home,” he said.
“In order for us to be productive citizens, we have to be productive students. In order for us to be productive students, we have to have a safe campus environment, and that is exactly what Title IX is doing.”
Trousdale encouraged students to attend tonight’s event and ask questions, no matter their views on the potential changes.
“We have our own personal opinions, but, officially, we are just presenting the information for students to get their opinions from it,” Trousdale said.
If students have questions about Title IX, they may email Barnett at rcbarnett@okcu.edu or reference the university’s Title IX website at okcu.edu/admin/hr/titleix.
Editor’s note: Community Manager Maddie Bowes is a member of Student Civic Engagement Committee. She did not participate in the writing or editing of this story.
@BornoYoung