Fall 2015 Raines Colloquium:
AN ACCESSIBLE APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING TITLE IX:
TRANSLATING RESEARCH & LAW INTO PRACTICE
October 8, 2015
1:00pm, 252 Erickson Hall
Sponsored by
Higher, Adult, and Lifelong Education
Co-Sponsored by
Residence Education and Housing Services
Jeffrey C. Sun, J.D., Ph.D.
Professor of Higher Education
Assistant Department Chair
PI & Project Director, Cadre & Faculty Development Course
Faculty Affiliate, Center for Educational Research, Policy, & Evaluation
Interim Program Director, Higher Education Administration
Interim Academic Director, Competency Based Education
University of Louisville
In April 2011, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a Dear Colleague Letter reminding schools, particularly college campuses, of Title IX requirements prohibiting hostile environment sexual harassment based on student-to-student conduct. Since then, media reports, federal investigations, and lawsuits have increasingly placed higher education on the spotlight alleging that colleges have failed to respond properly. Additional legal guidance has emerged in the form of OCR letters, OCR and Department of Justice investigation settlement agreements, court opinions, congressional studies, and state legislative service commission documents. Drawing on these data and using a thematic analysis approach, this session addresses the multiple themes that have emerged in terms of what policymakers and enforcement agents recognize as higher education’s role and expected actions to eliminate student-to-student sexual assaults on college campuses.