Amid allegations from the Women’s Law Project that Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania treats its female athletes as “second-class citizens,” eight female athletes from the university are suing Lock Haven in what they characterize as a class action suit, alleging violations of Title IX by unequal treatment of female athletes. The 4220-member student body is 59% female, and the university … [Read more...] about Female Students Bring Title IX Suite Against Lock Haven University: It’s Not Sex This Time, But Sports
Collegiate Comment
A Win for Pedagogically Defensible Syllabi
The Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that teaching students to avoid inflammatory sexual language in academic writing is a legitimate pedagogical goal, and that educators do not run afoul of the First Amendment by exercising editorial control of students’ course-related expression, even control of the viewpoints expressed therein, if such control relates to legitimate pedagogical … [Read more...] about A Win for Pedagogically Defensible Syllabi
Is Slant-ing Trademark Protection An Example of Viewpoint Discrimination?
What do college and university sports teams with names like the Indians or the Redmen have in common with bandleader Simon Tam of “The Slants”? Both potentially run afoul of the federal Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) by refusing to abandon what the PTO calls “disparaging” trademark names. The difference is that colleges and universities have largely abandoned using ethnic stereotypes as team … [Read more...] about Is Slant-ing Trademark Protection An Example of Viewpoint Discrimination?
OCR Lawsuits: Dear Colleague Letters Come Under Fire
The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE) has been under increasing fire about the authority of its “significant guidance documents,” informally titled “Dear Colleague Letters (DCLs).” Some of the most controversial of the recent DCLs, the 2011 DCL on Sexual Violence and the 2014 Q & A on Title IX and Sexual Violence, have prompted questions about the … [Read more...] about OCR Lawsuits: Dear Colleague Letters Come Under Fire
Harvard Seeking to Eliminate Single-Sex Fraternities and Sororities?
In a move alternately praised and vilified, Harvard University has adopted a policy, effective beginning with the Fall 2017 semester, providing that any student who becomes a member of any off-campus single-sex social organization is prohibited from holding a leadership position in an officially recognized on-campus organization or athletic team. Members of these off-campus groups will also be … [Read more...] about Harvard Seeking to Eliminate Single-Sex Fraternities and Sororities?
U.S. Department of Education Releases Clery Act Handbook 2016
The U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education has released the 2016 edition of the Handbook for Campus Safety and Security Reporting to guide institutions of higher education in complying with the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, better known simply as the “Clery Act.” The 265-page 2016 Handbook replaces the 2011 edition, and … [Read more...] about U.S. Department of Education Releases Clery Act Handbook 2016