LIFE INSIDE the Title IX Pressure Cooker
While SOS is hesitant to post this article, some readers might be interested. Personally, the article reminds me of a Title IX hearing. The article, like a Title IX hearing, is pro-accuser, and anti-due process. There is little mention about students who are Title IX falsely accused. Still, some readers might be interested to read about the highly stressful work of a Title IX agent, their lack of training and constant turn over, complete with statistics. Article excerpts are below, followed by a link to the article.
Nationwide, Title IX administrators who are in charge of dealing with campus sexual assault and harassment are turning over fast. Many colleges have had three, four, or even five different Title IX coordinators in the recent era of heightened enforcement, which began eight years ago. Two-thirds of Title IX coordinators say they’ve been in their jobs for less than three years, according to a 2018 survey by ATIXA.
The Chronicle of Higher Education interviewed three dozen current and former administrators to find out what’s behind the churn. Many of them were reluctant to speak on the record, fearing retaliation, legal action, or the prospect of torpedoing future career opportunities. They painted a picture of a profession that is constantly under the gun: One whose internal and external pressures threaten to cloud sound decision-making. The Title IX enforcers described living in a constant state of uncertainty, in which new federal guidance, state laws, or court rulings could abruptly upend the status quo.
Accused students have said they were punished with little evidence and not given a fair shake. They’ve said they didn’t get the same rights as alleged victims, like access to all of the evidence against them, and were asked questions during investigations and hearings that presumed their guilt. Andrew T. Miltenberg, a lawyer who has advised many students accused of sexual assault, said some Title IX officials are blatant in their dismissive treatment of men who face sexual-assault accusations. “They’re dogmatic in their belief that no one would ever make up these allegations,” he said. He’s seen cases where “huge swaths of the accused’s narrative” are omitted from the final investigative report.
Betsy DeVos, the secretary of education, has also described what she sees as the failures of campus Title IX proceedings. She’s sought to bolster the rights of the accused through her proposed Title IX regulations, which would make campus sexual-assault procedures more legalistic, requiring live hearings and cross examination. Other critics, including defense lawyers and opinion columnists, frame Title IX systems as “kangaroo courts” and question whether colleges should handle these cases at all. As a result, the narrative about Title IX administrators is often that they don’t do their jobs very well.
Life Inside the Title IX Pressure Cooker-Sarah Brown
