More than a decade after The Hunting Ground documentary first put a national spotlight on how colleges respond to sexual assault, Americans are once again embroiled in a reckoning over rape on college campuses. After a former Cornell University student filed a high-profile lawsuit accusing seven former student fraternity members of sexually assaulting her in 2024, some are looking to Title IX for understanding on how widespread the problem is and what specifically college administrators are required to do when handling sexual assault cases. Title IX is the federal civil rights law prohibiting sex discrimination in federally funded education and it's one area where President Donald Trump's Education Department has implemented major changes since taking office.
While the 2015 Hunting Ground documentary initially arrived during an era when the Obama administration was increasingly using Title IX to press colleges over their responses to sexual harassment and assault, schools operate under a very different federal framework governing when they must respond and how disciplinary proceedings must be conducted today. But due process should be a means of reaching a fair outcome, not an obstacle course that discourages survivors from coming forward.” The Trump administration has transformed both the rules governing Title IX cases and the Education Department office responsible for enforcing federal civil rights laws. Title IX has legally existed since 1972, but the federal government's interpretation of what the law requires from colleges in sexual misconduct cases has changed considerably from administration to administration.
Title IX itself does not explicitly mention sexual harassment. However, the Supreme Court has held that an educational institution's inadequate response to sexual harassment can amount to sex discrimination which is prohibited by the statute. The Education Department's Office for Civil Rights, or OCR, plays a leading federal role in enforcing the law.
Under former President Barack Obama, much of the government's approach was communicated through federal guidance rather than the detailed regulations that exist today. Trump's first administration subsequently changed the federal government's approach. In 2020, his Education Department issued detailed regulations governing how schools respond to sexual harassment and how formal complaints are adjudicated.
Former President Joe Biden's administration then adopted another set of regulations in 2024, changing schools' obligations and broadening the government's interpretation of sex discrimination. But the rule faced extensive litigation. A federal court ended up vacating the 2024 rule nationwide in January of last year, and Trump's Education Department has since directed OCR to return to the 2020 regulations.
Even under Trump’s different rules, sexual assault still falls firmly within the 2020 Title IX framework. The rules explicitly define sexual harassment to include sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence and stalking. They separately cover unwelcome conduct that is so "severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive" that it effectively denies someone equal access to an educational program.
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