Category: Education
Taking Stock of the Key Changes to OCR’s New Case Processing Manual
The U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has unveiled its newly-revamped Case Processing Manual. (Find the Manual here.) The procedural changes in the new Manual are critically important for complainants and recipients, including colleges and universities, involved in OCR’s complaint process. The Manual, which takes effect today, will govern how OCR investigates and resolves discrimination complaints going forward.
New Resource: 2017 Respondent Litigation Summary Chart
HMBR is regularly invited to discuss the latest Title IX trends at training, sessions, and workshops with Title IX administrators and higher education leaders. We are often asked: What are the courts doing in student respondent litigation? What steps can we take to lessen our risks in this area?
OCR Snapshot – Greater Transparency: OCR Publishes Online List of All Open Cases
The website for the U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR), now includes a complete list of all open cases under investigation at OCR. Unlike the widely-cited “Title IX Tracker,” which includes open OCR sexual violence cases at colleges and universities, OCR’s new list includes: all schools and all of the civil rights laws enforced by OCR. This means that the list includes cases open against colleges, universities, and elementary and secondary school districts and that the issues include alleged discrimination on the basis of sex, race, national origin, color, disability, or age, and under the Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act.
A Faculty’s Right to Teach: Does Academic Freedom Protect a Teacher’s Techniques in the Classroom?
The story of the UPenn grad student, her twitter account, and her teaching techniques started like many of these stories. The snowball started to roll when The Daily Caller, a popular conservative news site, ran a story entitled: “Ivy League Teaching Assistant Says She Calls on Black Women First, White […]
Mergers Ahead for the University of Wisconsin System: Do Declining Enrollments and Shifting Demographics Mean Big Changes for UWisc??
Across the nation, college admission boards and administrations are beginning to plan ahead for a, potentially, major crisis on the horizon. Between 2011 and 2016, college enrollment dropped by 8%. The declines were concentrated mostly in community colleges and for-profit schools, however, public institutions saw declines as well. Explanations for […]
New Religious Liberty Guidance Issued by Justice Department: What are the Ramifications for Colleges?
On October 6th, Attorney General Jeff Sessions published guidance issued to all federal administrative agencies and departments interpreting religious liberty protections under federal law. The memorandum, delivered pursuant to President Trump’s Executive Order in May, interprets existing protections of religious liberty and identifies twenty high-level principles that federal departments and […]
Criminal Charges Against College Basketball Coaches: Are Major Changes Ahead for College Sports?
With Jay Rossello. On September 26th, federal officials announced criminal charges against ten individuals, including four college-basketball coaches. The charges included bribery, corruption, and fraud. To some, the charges are a black eye on college basketball, but not an indicator of systemic problems with the NCAA. For others, the charges […]
Sessions Calls for a “National Re-Commitment to Free Speech on College Campuses”
On Tuesday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions sharply criticized what he considers incidents of college and universities suppressing free speech, creating “echo chambers” on campus, limiting student expression to “free speech zones,” and allowing protestors to shut down speakers they disagree with by using threats of violence. While comparing mask-wearing, so-called, […]
Interim Title IX Guidance Released: Making Sense of New Interpretations and Ongoing Responsibilities
With Jonathan Helwink On Friday, the Department of Education released a “Q&A on Campus Sexual Misconduct” along with a letter from Acting Assistant Secretary of the Office for Civil Rights, Candice Jackson withdrawing the Department’s 2011 “Dear Colleague Letter on Sexual Violence” and the 2014 “Q&A on Title IX and […]
New Guidance Looks Likely to Adopt ‘Clear and Convincing’ Standard
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday this week that the Department of Education will issue interim guidance on handling sexual assault investigations on college campuses in the next week or two. Despite not reporting all of what the interim guidance will include, the Journal did report on one of […]