“Victory belongs to those that believe in it the most and believe in it the longest.” – Randall Wallace

It is not common in one’s lifetime to experience a Civil Rights victory as historical as the one we celebrate today.

Today, August 14, 2020, the new Title IX regulation implementing rules for sexual harassment goes into effect at schools across America.  SAVE celebrates this victory for our nation, our students, and faculty, many of whom have been subjected to unfair campus disciplinary hearings over the past nine years.

Since 2011, when the controversial Dear Colleague Letter on sexual violence was released, 647 lawsuits have been filed against universities, thousands of student transcripts have been permanently stamped with “expulsion” or “suspension”, and countless professors have been fired or censured.  There is no limit to the trauma and emotional abuse these persons have experienced.

Many of these persons complained. As a result, the Department of Education reported that following release of the DCL, the number of Title IX complaints to the OCR increased nearly 5-fold, from 17,724 (2000-2010) to 80,739 (2011-2020).

Today we turn the page. 

Margaret Thatcher famously said, “You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.”  Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, her staff, and individual civil rights advocates and groups, well understand the numerous battles that were fought to get to where we are today. Let’s highlight some of these efforts:

2011-2013:

• SAVE, the Foundation of Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), and the American Association of University Professors sent communications to the OCR calling for the withdrawal of its unlawful policy.
• Families Advocating for Campus Equality (FACE) was established to engage in family support, education, and advocacy.
• 293 articles and editorials were published critical of the OCR policy.

2014-2016:

• The Department of Justice reported the annual rate of sexual assault among college age females was 1/1000 women, refuting the widely disseminated one-in-five number.
• Title IX for All was established, which offers a Database of OCR Resolution Letters and a Legal Database of lawsuits against universities.
• A group of Harvard University Law Professors issued the statement, Rethink Harvard’s Sexual Harassment Policy.
• A group of Penn Law faculty members issued their Open Letter, Sexual Assault Complaints: Protecting Complainants and the Accused Students at Universities
• The American Association of University Professors issued a report, The History, Uses, and Abuses of Title IX
• Professors from around the country issued Law Professors’ Open Letter Regarding Campus Free Speech and Sexual Assault
• SAVE sent a letter calling on Congress to Rescind and Replace the Dear Colleague Letter (April 4), issued a Special Report, “Lawsuits Against Universities for Alleged Mishandling of Sexual Misconduct Cases;” and held meetings with staffers in 60 offices in the Senate and House of Representatives to discuss problems with the OCR policy. Over subsequent years, SAVE representatives would hold over 1,000 meetings with legislative staffers.
• 2,239 articles and editorials were published critical of the OCR policy.

2017-2019:

• Five national organizations issued reports critical of the 2011 OCR policy:
  • SAVE: Six-Year Experiment in Campus Jurisprudence Fails to Make the Grade
  • American College of Trial Lawyers: Position Statement Regarding Campus Sexual Assault Investigations
  • American Bar Association Task Force for Promoting Fairness in Campus Sexual Misconduct Cases
  • Heritage Foundation: Campus Sexual Assault: Understanding the Problem and How to Fix It
  • National Association of Scholars: OCR’s New Sexual Harassment Guidelines Threaten Academic Freedom, Due Process
• SAVE launched its State Legislative Initiative to prevent the passage of state-level laws that aimed to codify policies based on the Dear Colleague Letter.
• On September 22, 2017, the Office for Civil Rights announced its withdrawal of the 2011 Dear Colleague Letter and its 2014 Questions and Answers on Title IX and Sexual Violence. The same day, the OCR released a new Q and A on Campus Sexual Misconduct guidance document.
• On November 29, 2018, the Department of Education released its proposed Title IX regulation.

2020:

• On May 6, 2020 the Department of Education issued its final rule.
• Four lawsuits were filed opposing the Rule, and amicus briefs were filed by SAVE, FACE, and FIRE.
  • Attorneys General lawsuit (Request for Preliminary Injunction denied on 8/12/20)
  • ACLU lawsuit (Pending)
  • National Women’s Law Center lawsuit (Pending)
  • State of New York lawsuit (Request for Preliminary Injunction denied on 8/9/20)

Today, August 14, 2020 the Final Rule is being implemented on college campuses and K-12 schools across America.

This has been an incredible journey ending in a momentous victory, but one that is not over.  The letter of the law was penned by our U.S. Department of Education, and now the spirit of the law must be carried out to ensure our students and faculty receive every protection the Title IX law provides.