The federal gender-equity law known as Title IX has largely become known for two issues in higher education: requiring equity in opportunities for women in college sports and, more recently, a nationwide wave of demands for colleges to crack down on sexual harassment and rape.
In fact, the law’s reach goes much further than those specific issues, barring all forms of discrimination based on gender and sexual orientation in “all aspects of education programs or activities operated by recipients of federal financial assistance,” according to an explanation of the law from the U.S. Department of Justice.
But a report released on Friday by the Human Rights Campaign concludes that a growing number of colleges are applying for and receiving waivers from some of the law’s provisions. The group, which advocates for civil-rights protections for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, found that 56 colleges, enrolling an estimated 120,000 students, have sought and received exemptions from some provisions of Title IX relating to gender identity and sexual orientation. Here are some answers to key questions about those waivers.
What are the exemptions?
The law itself contains a provision allowing an institution or educational program controlled by a religious organization to waive only parts of the law that conflict with the college’s religious tenets. “For example, Title IX would not require a religiously controlled organization that trains students for the ministry to offer such training to women if the organization’s religious tenets hold that all ministers must be men,” says the Justice Department’s manual explaining the law.
How do colleges receive an exemption?
In order to be exempted from the law’s requirements, a college must write a letter to the Education Department identifying which parts of the law conflict with its religious beliefs. In its request to the department, which the Human Rights Campaign shared with The Chronicle, Louisiana College, in Pineville, La., said it should be exempt from several provisions barring discrimination based on sex, marital and parental status, pregnancy, and gender identity.
The college’s president, Rick Brewer, cited several passages of scripture and the college’s affiliation with the Louisiana Baptist Convention as the reasons it sought the waiver. “We affirm God’s good design that gender identity is determined by biological sex and not by one’s self-perception — a perception which is often influenced by fallen human nature in ways contrary to God’s design,” Mr. Brewer wrote.
How many colleges have received such exemptions from Title IX?
The report from the Human Rights Campaign identifies 56 colleges that have applied for and received waivers from portions of the law since 2013. All but 10 of those requests have been granted since 2014, including 43 this year, according to figures from the group. No requests were made from 2009 to 2011, the Human Rights Campaign found. A spokesman for the group said it was unaware of any colleges that had been denied exemptions.
The Education Department has also released a longer listing of 226 colleges that have received waivers since 1976, including 21 requests this year that are still pending.
Eric Kelderman writes about money and accountability in higher education, including such areas as state policy, accreditation, and legal affairs. You can find him on Twitter @etkeld, or email him at eric.kelderman@chronicle.com.
