Cultivating a Culture of Teamwork in response to Title IX ViolationsMinnesota's Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action (EOAA) office launched an investigation in 2016 surrounding multiple allegations of sexual assault that involved numerous members of the University of Minnesota football team. The Gophers were not the only team facing these charges. Baylor University in Texas suspended four students considering an ongoing sexual assault investigation. Two University of Miami linebackers were arrested for providing alcohol to a minor and sexually assaulting her. Two members of the University of Texas were suspended indefinitely after charges were filed against them for sexual assault. Sadly, the list of these investigations is long and seems to be growing.The Minnesota EOAA released an 80-page report in December of 2016 detailing the allegations, investigation, and subsequent responses to the complaint. Additionally, the University of Minnesota conducted its own investigation which resulted in the suspension of ten football players.This study seeks to examine the historical legal context of Title IX, present data collected from statements of either the accusers or accuses in recent investigations of sexual assault and provide specific information to school leaders regarding appropriate responses, investigations, and methods that have been employed to cultivate a culture of teamwork to prevent such occurrences in the future.
Statement of the ProblemIn Davis v. Board of Education, the Supreme Court found, "student harassment of another student may constitute discrimination under Title IX when the funding recipient engages in harassment directly or when the funding recipient's deliberate indifference subjects its students to harassment." This 1999 ruling has tremendous impact on schools and school leaders today. This study offers a further examination of the legal definitions and examples of specific crimes, harassment, assault, and aggression which are vital in the creation of a safe and appropriate learning environment.
Review of the LiteratureNo person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance. This is the language of Title IX of the Education Amendments enacted by Congress on July 23, 1972 and signed into law by President Richard Nixon. This event was probably one of the most important achievements of the movement to address sexism, discrimination, and prejudice against women.A common misperception is that Title IX only applies to equity in athletics, but athletics is only one of ten key areas the law covers: access to higher education, career education, education for pregnant and parenting students, employment, learning environment, math and science, sexual harassment, standardized testing, and technology. This paper also examines the following cases with respect to Title IX violations: