Legislative History of Title IX

June 22, 2007

1964
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is enacted, prohibiting discrimination in employment based on race, color, sex, national origin, or religion. However, educational institutions are largely excluded from its coverage until 1972.

1970
Congress holds first hearings on sex discrimination in higher education.

1972
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is enacted, prohibiting discrimination on the basis of sex in all federally-assisted education programs and activities.

1974
Tower Amendment is proposed and rejected. The amendment would have exempted sports producing gross revenue or donations from Title IX compliance.

Javits Amendment is passed. An alternative to the Tower Amendment, it states that Title IX regulations must include reasonable provisions considering the nature of particular sports.

1975
U.S.Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) issues final Title IX regulations. Elementary schools are given one year to comply. High schools and colleges are given three years to comply.

Several attempts to disapprove HEW regulations and even to change Title IX itself are rejected, including a reintroduced version of the Tower Amendment.

HEW issues “Elimination of Sex Discrimination in Athletics Programs” to state school officers, superintendents, college and university presidents, and publishes it in the Federal Register.

1976
NCAA unsuccessfully files suit, challenging the legality of Title IX.

Deadline passes for Title IX compliance in elementary schools.

1977
First use of Title IX in charges of sexual harassment against an educational institution in Alexander v. Yale University. The case involves five students who charge Yale University faculty with sexual harassment against students.

1978
HEW proposes policy, “Title IX and Intercollegiate Athletics,” for notice and comment.

Deadline passes for Title IX compliance in high schools and colleges.

1979
HEW issues final policy interpretation, “Title IX and Intercollegiate Athletics,” introducing the “three-pronged test” for assessing compliance with Title IX’s requirements for equal participation opportunities.

U.S. Supreme Court rules in Cannon v. University of Chicago that private individuals have the right to sue under Title IX, even though the statute does not explicitly provide individuals such a right.

1980
U.S. Department of Education is established. Primary oversight of Title IX is transferred to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) of the U.S. Department of Education.

OCR issues Interim Investigators’ Manual re Title IX compliance to investigators in its regional offices.

1984
U.S. Supreme Court rules in Grove City v. Bell that Title IX applies only to the specific programs within an institution that receive specifically targeted federal funding. This decision effectively eliminates Title IX coverage of most athletic programs.

1987
OCR publishes “Title IX Grievance Procedures: An Introductory Manual” to assist schools with their obligations to establish a Title IX complaint procedure and designate a Title IX coordinator to receive those complaints.

1988
Civil Right Restoration Act is passed over President Reagan’s veto. The act restores Title IX coverage to all of an educational institution’s programs and activities if any of the institution’s programs or activities receives federal funds.

1990
OCR updates and finalizes its Title IX Investigators’ Manual.

1992
U.S. Supreme Court rules unanimously in Franklin v. Gwinnett County Schools that plaintiffs who sue under Title IX may be awarded monetary damages for intentional discrimination.

NCAA publishes a Gender-Equity Study of its member institutions, detailing widespread sex discrimination in athletics programs.

1993
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit finds in Favia v. Indiana University of Pennsylvania that financial and budgetary difficulties are not an excuse for Title IX non-compliance.

1994
Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act (EADA) is passed, requiring federally-assisted, coeducational institutions of higher education to disclose information about the gender breakdown of their intercollegiate athletic programs. The requisite annual report from these institutions allows for better monitoring of Title IX compliance.

1995
House Subcommittee on Postsecondary Education holds hearings re-evaluating Title IX and the “three-pronged test” for participation, but no changes result.

House rejects a proposed amendment to the Department of Education’s appropriations prohibiting OCR from using funds to enforce Title IX regulations until OCR provided more “specific guidance.”

Senate Commerce Committee holds hearings on Title IX, but no changes result.

U.S. District Court from the Southern District of Iowa finds in Gonyo v. Drake University that cutting men’s athletic teams does not violate Title IX or the Equal Protection Clause.

1996
OCR issues final “Clarification of Intercollegiate Athletics Policy Guidance: The Three-Part Test,” explaining in detail how schools could comply with each prong of the three-part “effective accommodation test” first set forth in the 1979 policy guidance.

U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit upholds a lower court’s ruling of discrimination against female athletes under Title IX, dismissing arguments that the institution’s actions did not constitute discrimination because women are less interested in sports. The court’s opinion, in Cohen v. Brown University, contains an exhaustive refutation of arguments made to challenge the three-part test.

U.S. Government Accountability Office issues a report entitled “Issues involving Single-Gender Schools and Programs” by Congressional request.

First annual EADA disclosure reports are due.

1997
OCR issues “Sexual Harassment Guidance: Harassment of Students by School Employees, Other Students, or Third Parties.” The document describes standards for Title IX compliance for schools’ sexual harassment policies and details OCR’s standard procedures for investigating and resolving allegations of sexual harassment. It also emphasizes that institutions are responsible for student-on-student sexual harassment.

1998
U.S. Supreme Court rules in Gebser v. Lago Vista Independent School District that a student may sue a school district for damages for a teacher’s sexual harassment only if a school official with authority to institute corrective measures had actual notice of the teacher’s misconduct and if school acted with “deliberate indifference” to the harassment. This standard of liability is stricter than that required to hold employers liable for damages for sexual harassment of employees under Title VII.

U.S. District Court approves Brown University’s plan for Title IX compliance in Cohen v. Brown University. The university agrees to keep the percentage of female athletes within 3.5% of the percentage of females in the general student body.

1999
U.S. Supreme Court rules in Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education that Title IX covers student-on-student harassment under Title IX and that damages are available if the school had actual notice of, and was “deliberately indifferent” to, the harassment. The Court holds that the harassment must go beyond teasing and bullying to harassment that is so severe, pervasive, and objectionably offensive that it deprives the victims of access to the benefits of education.

2000
OCR issues “Revised Sexual Harassment Guidance” reaffirming in large part the compliance standards described in the 1997 Guidance.

U.S. Department of Justice issues the Final Common Rule on Title IX enforcement for all federal agencies.

2001
U.S. Department of Justice issues “Title IX Legal Manual” providing guidance to federal agencies regarding the variety of educational programs under Title IX.

2002
U.S. Department of Education establishes a Commission on Opportunities in Athletics to evaluate changes to Department Title IX athletics policies. The Title IX Commission holds four hearings around the country.

President’s budget calls for elimination of the Women’s Educational Equity Act.

2003
The Title IX Commission issues its report, recommending significant changes to the Department of Education regulatory policies; two members of the Commission release a dissenting minority report which the majority refuses to include in the official Commission record. The Secretary of Education announces that only consensus recommendations will be implemented and ultimately rejects all recommendations, issuing the “ Further Clarification of Intercollegiate Athletics Policy Guidance Regarding Title IX Compliance” in July.

2005
U.S. Supreme Court rules in Jackson v. Birmingham Board of Education that schools are prohibited under Title IX from retaliating against those who protest sex discrimination.

The Department of Education issues an “Additional Clarification of Intercollegiate Athletics Policy Guidance: Three-Part Test—Part Three” allowing colleges to use e-mail in surveys of student interest in athletics participation.

2006
Department of Education promulgates new regulations expanding authorization for schools to offer single sex programs.

 

 

Source: "Title IX at 35: Beyond the Headlines", National Coalition for Women and Girls in Education, forthcoming.