Module 12
Campus Sexual Assault: Institutional Reporting and Disciplinary Processes

Title IX

“Title IX” refers to federal law Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.  It is a civil rights law that prohibits any educational institution that receives federal funds from discriminating on the basis of sex.  Because schools receive “federal funds” in many different ways, this law applies to virtually every college and university campus, public or private, in the U.S.—including community-colleges, four-year undergraduate, and graduate institutions.1

The purpose of Title IX is to ensure that sex discrimination does not impact students’ ability to take advantage of educational opportunities. Title IX and its implementing regulations require schools to treat male and female students equitably in all educational opportunities, including extra-curricular activities sponsored by the school, sports opportunities, course offerings, etc.  It is well-settled law that sexual assault constitutes discrimination on the basis of sex.  Thus, Title IX requires schools to promote an environment that is equitable and safe from sexual assault, and to respond promptly and equitably when sexual assault has been perpetrated.  Title IX requires that a student’s educational opportunities not be impacted as a result of sexual assault victimization.

Disclaimers and Footnotes

1. Title IX applies to K-12 schools as well. This online training focuses on advocacy for adult victims of sexual assault and therefore, limits this discussion to colleges and universities. If you have questions about Title IX processes in K-12 schools, please contact Legal Momentum, www.legalmomentum.org.

This module will be available to you as soon as you complete Module 1. To complete a module, you must read each of the lessons and complete the review quiz at the end.

It is important to finish Module 1 so that you have sufficient context for the rest of the program. After that, you'll have full access to jump between lessons however works best for you.

Tip: In the left sidebar, you'll notice a vertical bar of squares. Each square represents a lesson in that module. You can see at a glance which lessons you've done (brightly colored) and which ones you have not (gray).

Return to Module 1