By Marcellus Day, Stentorian Staff Writer
Title IX is a famous, yet misunderstood policy on our campus. Everyone knows about it; we joke about it in the hallway and we half read then delete the emails about it. However, our last email about Title IX was a notification from our Title IX Coordinator, JAshe, that NCSSM has updated their Title IX procedures in compliance with federal standards, but what changed and what does that change mean for students?
On June 23, 1972 the first ever Title IX policy was published with the main goal of of ending sex discrimination in federally funded eduaction progams and activities. However, the policy has come under attack, being criticized for extending beyond its original intentions and being unnecessary altogether; Title IX cannot be found on the Department of Education website as of April 15th, 2025. This has led to a variety of legal challenges to the policy and changes, but here’s what you need to know about our current changes.
NCSSM’s Title IX no longer provides protections for LGBTQ+ students. This change is in compliance with Trump’s Executive Order “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth To The Federal Government” and recent rulings from the Federal Courts. Here is the direct statement from our Title IX Office in the email sent on March 27th:
“Incidents of gender based harassment and discrimination that impact LGBTQ+ students can be resolved through the Code of Conduct procedures separate from the Title IX process; this includes discrimination based on gender identity, gender expression, and sexual orientation.”
Effectively, Title IX policies will no longer apply to students who are seeking protections for LGBTQ+ related discrimination. Instead, students in those situations can receive support from the Code of Conduct. However, discrimination is not a specific major or minor violation, so the discrimination would have to be in line with some other outlined violation such as physical/sexual violence although verbal abuse is unclear. While some informal resolutions may take place, this change will prevent students from many protections.
However, these guidelines are not clear. As of April 15th, 2025 our nondiscrimination policy still seems to define gender, gender identity, and gender expression and imply that they are still protected by Title IX, although this is not the case. Further, developments are being watched as our system is needlessly complex and know that if you or someone you know are experiencing discrimination or harassment you can still reach out to a trusted NCSSM employee for support.
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