A federal judge’s decision to strike down former President Joe Biden’s Title IX policy will likely not affect GW’s current protections for sexual assault survivors, experts in Title IX policy said.
Federal courts vacated Biden’s 2024 updated Title IX regulation on Jan. 9, after a Kentucky federal judge ruled that the administration’s updated definitions of gender identity and sexual harassment overstepped Biden’s executive’s power, voiding the changes and reverting Title IX policy back to President Donald Trump’s 2020 policy. Assistant Provost and Title IX Coordinator Asha Reynolds said that as the office announced in July, GW’s current Sexual Harassment and Related Conduct Policy “remains in effect until further notice.”
Reynolds said the University is continuing to monitor federal Title IX policy developments and D.C. law, and the office will review its current policy as new guidance is received.
“The University prohibits discrimination based on gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, and pregnancy, consistent with federal and District of Columbia law and pursuant to the Equal Opportunity, Nondiscrimination, Anti-Harassment, and Non-Retaliation Policy,” Reynolds said in an email.
Reynolds also said the University “recently” updated its Title IX website and training to include more “reasonable modifications” for students who are pregnant or experiencing other related conditions — a policy no longer required by Trump’s 2020 version, which narrowed Title IX’s scope by reducing institutional responsibilities for addressing sexual harassment and discrimination.
The Biden administration’s regulation expanded on the 2020 policy to prohibit discrimination based on gender identity and pregnancy and provided additional protections for students experiencing sexual harassment and assault allegations, which included eliminating live hearings and expanding jurisdiction for off-campus and international students. Biden’s policy also broadened the 2020 version’s definition of sexual harassment to include conduct that is severe or pervasive as opposed to needing to be both.
In May 2024, one month after Biden released his update, 26 states sued his administration, arguing that the executive branch exceeded its legal authority by changing the definition of sex and expanding the definition of sexual harassment beyond what was intended by Congress when they passed Title IX in 1972.
GW updated its Title IX policies in April 2024 to comply with the Biden administration’s new procedures, and in August, the University changed its policy again to align with both the 2020 and 2024 regulations after judges initially ordered injunctions on the 2024 rules.
A Kansas federal judge blocked the new policies in certain states in July and expanded the ban to include any school attended by someone who is affiliated with two conservative organizations — Young America’s Foundation and Female Athletes United — including GW. The University’s Title IX website posted an update on July 25 stating that the University’s 2020 policy would remain in effect until the injunction is “lifted or narrowed.”
Adrienne Mathis — the executive director of Title IX Solutions, an organization that advises higher education Title IX coordinators about compliance — said GW will continue “business as usual,” as it was already operating under 2020 regulations due to the injunction.
For other universities that implemented the 2024 changes, she said the situation is chaotic and “confusing,” especially given the status of pending Title IX investigations.
Mathis said the current federal Title IX regulations no longer clearly classify protections for gender identity, sexual orientation and pregnancy-related conditions, but universities can still address discrimination and behavior that falls outside the new Title IX scope through separate policies, like the University’s code of conduct or harassment policy.
She said those who work in university Title IX offices are unsure of its future under the Trump administration and instead recommended that states adopt additional legislation protecting students against sexual violence to compensate for the regression in federal law.
Tracey Vitchers, the executive director of It’s On Us, an organization aimed at combatting campus sexual assault, said Title IX is just one of the many “tools” a student can use to pursue justice if they are sexually harassed.
Vitchers said Title IX is “the floor not the ceiling” and the “bare minimum” of what the government requires schools to implement to protect their students. Vitchers said many states and institutions have enacted their own policies to help protect students, going beyond what Title IX requires.
D.C. At-Large Councilmember Christina Henderson introduced an act in 2023 that would require D.C. universities to hire confidential resource advisers to help assault survivors access resources and navigate institutional and legal processes. GW students testified in support of the bill, but the council didn’t take any further action.
“Title IX as a federal civil rights law is supposed to provide certain blanket protections and rights to every student, regardless of where they go to school,” Vitchers said. “But because there has been this back and forth on Title IX, we have seen different states and localities where institutions themselves try to kind of backfill and patch in different protections where they can, leveraging non-Title IX ways of doing so.”
S. Daniel Carter, the president of SAFE Campuses, said the rollback of the 2024 policy fits the “chaotic” trajectory of Title IX over the past 15 years, with policy frequently changing and shifting, such as when Trump entered office and promised to replace the “aggressive” policies of former President Barack Obama’s administration with those that comprised his 2020 Title IX plan. Carter said these constant changes make it difficult for universities to combat sex discrimination, given they’re frequently required to follow new procedures.
“I think that it has made things very difficult to better protect students, faculty and staff and others on campus who benefit from sex discrimination prohibitions,” Carter said.
Shiwali Patel, the director of safe and inclusive schools for the National Women’s Law Center, said the court’s decision does not take away Title IX rights, which many state and local laws will continue to protect. She said despite the Trump administration’s “hostility” toward Title IX protections, there is potential for future litigation, including appeals or interventions aimed at protecting some of Biden’s policies.
“There is that uncertainty, which is why I think, especially now, it’s so important to send a clear message to students about institutional values,” Patel said.
Hannah Marr contributed reporting.
