The Trump administration restored an interpretation of Title IX regulations from President Donald Trump’s first term, affecting how schools — including Duke — handle sexual assault allegations.
Duke administrators noted that while the changes will likely shift some of the University's policies, they do not expect there to be a significant impact.
The Education Department issued a memo to U.S. educational institutions in January affirming that Title IX — the federal law that prevents sex-based discrimination in schools receiving federal funds — would be enforced according to a set of rules implemented in 2020 by former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos for the first Trump administration.
The move followed an earlier ruling by a federal judge in Kentucky, which found that the Biden administration’s interpretation of the law constituted an overreach of presidential authority. The Biden-era policy had increased protections for LGBTQ+ students and expanded the definition of sexual misconduct.
According to a Jan. 31 statement from the Department of Education, the administration aims to enforce Title IX protections on campus “on the basis of biological sex.” The statement also claimed that the policy shift will end “a serious threat to campus free speech” and ensure “much stronger due process protections for students during Title IX proceedings.”
Cynthia Clinton, assistant vice president for harassment and discrimination prevention and compliance and Title IX coordinator in the Office of Institutional Equity, wrote in an email to The Chronicle that Duke is currently in the process of reviewing its policies to ensure they comply with federal guidance.
“We operated according to the 2020 regulations for four years at Duke, so we understand the landscape well,” Clinton wrote. “A return to those practices will require some changes to processes that were adjusted per direction of the prior administration, but the impact on the University community will not be significant.”
Clinton noted in the email that Duke will maintain longstanding “policies and procedures external to the 2020 federal Title IX regulations to address non-Title IX prohibited conduct.”
Duke has not yet officially announced any changes to its existing policies regarding sexual assault reports.
According to Doriane Coleman, Thomas L. Perkins distinguished professor of law, a “key thematic difference” between the 2020 and 2024 Title IX interpretations is the extent to which campus-based procedures for responding to sexual assault allegations resemble the civil law system’s due process rights for defendants.
“The Trump approach is more closely aligned with [the legal] process — it’s more formal — than the Biden approach was,” Coleman wrote in an email to The Chronicle.
Among other changes, the 2020 regulations permit individuals accused of sexual assault to cross-examine their accuser, require schools to give accused parties sufficient details of their allegation instead of just a written notice that an allegation has been made, narrow the definition of conduct that falls under sexual harassment and mandate dismissal of a complaint if the conduct does not meet that definition.
Coleman noted that “it’s normal for interpretations to change with new administrations, especially when there are questions about what a statute or regulation means.”
Despite these differences, many central elements of the campus sexual assault response remain the same.
Coleman wrote that colleges and universities are still required to “take in, investigate and adjudicate claims of sexual assault involving members of their communities when they’re campus-based.” She added that the burden of proof remains on the complainant making the allegation, meaning accused parties are considered innocent until proven “responsible.”
Institutions can choose between two burdens of proof to impose on the complainant: either that it is more likely than not that the accused assaulted the complainant, or that there is “clear and convincing evidence” that the assault occurred.
According to Coleman, Duke has and will continue to implement the former approach, known as the “preponderance of the evidence” standard, which she described as “more favorable to the complainant.”
The University will soon conduct a “Sexual Misconduct Climate Survey” on campus in partnership with education consulting firm Rankin Climate to “better address … students’ experiences of sexual misconduct and to understand how [Duke] compare[s] to a cohort of institutions,” according to a Thursday evening email to all Duke students from Kimberly Hewitt, vice president for institutional equity and chief diversity officer, and Mary Pat McMahon, vice president and vice provost of student affairs. The survey, which appears to be the first of its kind on campus since 2018, will open March 18.
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Bhavika Verma is a Trinity first-year and a staff reporter for the news department.
Ananya Pinnamaneni is a Trinity first-year and university news editor for the news department.