On Jan. 9, 2025, a federal court reversed Biden-era changes to Title IX policy on matters of sexual misconduct and discrimination. Until further notice from the Department of Education, universities will have to abide by 2020 Trump-era regulations, which include fewer protections for victims and a reduced jurisdiction for reporting. However, the reversal will have limited impact on Willamette students as they are already protected by university policy.
Title IX is a federal statute established in 1972 to prevent sex discrimination in education, which all public and most private institutions have to abide by. Under this statute, schools cannot discriminate based on sex in any educational program or activity that receives federal funding, including admissions, recruitment, financial aid, academics and athletics. Universities must also provide resources for preventing and addressing misconduct and investigate any complaints in a reasonable and timely manner.
In 2024, the Biden administration released new Title IX rules that expanded the actions that schools must take to address sexual misconduct. For instance, Title IX started applying to incidents between students off-campus — and even abroad — while the previous Trump-era Title IX applied almost exclusively to on-campus incidents.
Under the Biden-era policy, any former student could file Title IX complaints of incidents that took place during their time in school, while before, the complainant had to still be enrolled at the time of the complaint. Other changes included a “prompt and effective” school response, mandatory training for staff, and discrimination prevention strategies, all of which were not part of prior Trump-era Title IX regulations.
Apart from sexual misconduct, Title IX also protects pregnant, parenting and LGBTQ+ students from discrimination. The 2024 changes expanded the meaning of discrimination to include harmful stereotypes and discrimination against intersex communities and introduced protections for transgender individuals to participate in academic and athletic activities consistent with their gender identity, most of which are no longer in place due to President Trump’s recent executive order.
A judge ruled on Jan. 9 that Biden’s Title IX policies are invalid in a lawsuit brought by multiple states against the Department of Education. The reversal will make all institutions revert to previous Trump-era regulations, which are less protective of victims of sexual misconduct and LGBTQ+ discrimination. However, they do not limit schools’ power to investigate misconduct or provide resources, as institutions can incorporate many of the previous protections into university policy.
“All the things that didn’t apply to Title IX, [Willamette] captured in our sexual misconduct policy,” said Vice President for Student Affairs Lisa Landreman. This includes LGBTQ+ discrimination, she said.
“It sounds awful that the federal government would narrow this, but if a student filed a complaint [the university] would still investigate because we’ll just cover it under our own policy,” Landreman said.
Although Willamette will continue to use the preponderance of evidence test, other campuses might go back to using higher standards of evidence such as the clear and convincing test. Higher standards of evidence may deter some victims from reporting, Landreman said.
Public universities must not only comply with federal policy — such as Title IX — but also state policy. How public schools address sexual misconduct may therefore vary between “blue” and “red” states.
“That’s the benefit of being a private institution. It doesn’t impact us the same way,” Landreman said.
K-12 institutions are also impacted by the reversal of Title IX, but just like Willamette, individual schools and districts may have their own policies that go beyond those legally mandated.
“Even though we have workarounds, to have that kind of messaging is detrimental,” Landreman said. “It’s a difficult thing to hear from your federal government.”
More information about Title IX and sexual misconduct policies at Willamette can be found here. Students can contact Lisa Landreman at llandreman@willamette.edu or Title IX coordinator Amanda Hanincik at ahanincik@willamette.edu with any questions.
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