As soon as the 2020 regulations were implemented, we knew the next administration would attempt to undo them. That time is almost here. As counter intuitive as it may seem, however, I am looking forward the future. While we have many challenges before us, we also have many opportunities to present our values, broaden our support, and improve on our work.

In summary, our plan is to share some the fruits of our data collection efforts thus far, expand on them further, and to push further in the direction of advocacy. With that in mind, we want to give you an idea of our plans for this year. They include:

Opposing the Biden administration’s anti-due process agenda

Starting around April, the Biden administration will attempt to rewrite the Title IX rules on investigating and adjudicating misconduct. They will either do so in a way that explicitly tilts the scales in favor of accusers, or they will attempt to water down procedural rights enough to where university administrators can feel certain they have been provided cover to tilt the scales themselves and then play the game of plausible deniability whenever they face public accountability.

We will do everything in our power to put the flaws of the new policies on record and oppose them. Where the new regulations make improvements we will support them, but we predict those moments will be few.

We submitted live testimony to the Department of Education in their Public Hearing event in June of 2021. Here is a video of our testimony, which is also included in an official Department of Education document. Additionally, we submitted a 40-page full comment making more specific and detailed recommendations, leaning heavily on what we have learned documenting hundreds of Title IX lawsuits via our database work.

More reports on Title IX lawsuits and OCR investigations

In mid-2020, we released a report which – based on an analysis of 650 Title IX lawsuits – concluded that black students are four times as likely as white students to file lawsuits alleging their rights were violated in Title IX-related misconduct adjudications. The report received great reception. It was widely circulated and cited in numerous amici curiae. Just recently, I learned that Cornell University cited it (or rather, copied and pasted it with attribution) in their Hearing/Appeal Panel and Co-Investigator Training.

I believe more reports like these, when presented professionally and with the appropriate visualizations and commentary, would be beneficial not only for helping others understanding the “lay of the land,” but also for discovering and provoking discussion on new trends in Title IX litigation, OCR investigations, and more. We will ideally produce and distribute at least nine such reports this year, with data pulled from our databases on Title IX lawsuits and OCR investigations.

A new directory/database dedicated exclusively to Title IX attorneys and law firms

In addition to a wealth of other information, our Title IX Lawsuits Database has extensive information on attorneys who have represented plaintiffs and defendants in court. Many parents and students in need of an attorney have used it to find one.

Those whose sole need is to find information on attorneys or law firms, however, could be better served by a lower-cost database suited exclusively for this purpose. Relatedly, we have also received requests by Title IX attorneys who have represented students in other areas than the courtroom and desire to be included in an attorney directory of sorts. Additionally, we have received requests to simply purchase all our attorney data (which has grown quite voluminous) as a downloadable Excel spreadsheet.

We plan to provide all these options this year by releasing a Title IX attorney directory/database of sorts by the end of March at the latest.

A greater emphasis on analyzing, documenting, and exposing gender bias

Gender bias against men and boys can be a subjective topic for discussion, but it is a necessary one, and discussions about it can be done methodically. Such bias is, ultimately, the main (though not exclusive) reason we are now facing a rewrite of due process protections. We will revamp and expand our efforts in this area in 2022.

We also plan to integrate these additional efforts to document gender bias into our existing and future databases (see more regarding our “schools” database below).

A “schools to beware of” database

We now have extensive data on lawsuits, OCR investigations, and Clery-related offenses. We have data on enrollment and other metrics for over 11,000 campuses. This year, we will be tracking institutional bias on a far greater scale and “tagging” schools with such incidents where we find them. We plan to put all of this together into one large, free-to-use database. Our goals with this database are to help prospective students and parents choose optimal schools, to help expand the conversation on egalitarianism and civil liberties in higher ed, and to assist attorneys who may benefit from some of the information.

We plan on releasing this resource in the latter half of 2022.

A call for submissions, and expanding the discussion

We are now officially welcoming submissions for writers who wish to submit thoughtful, well-crafted articles. We will publish these articles on our website and circulate them via social media and email to students, attorneys, advocates, parents, journalists, educators, and concerned citizens. If you are interested, please view the submission requirements here.

A return to video series development, and diversification of our social media presence

From 2009 to 2013, we found YouTube a useful medium for presenting our ideas to the broader public. We generally stopped in 2013 to focus on publishing articles, and in recent years we have focused on database development almost exclusively. While this has provided us the opportunity to create important resources, we believe our overall work has sometimes lost the “human element” and could benefit from a human face explaining what has been going on in our academic institutions.

In a few months, we plan to start regularly posting again to our longstanding YouTube channel – and potentially our new DailyMotion and Rumble channels as well. We intend to gear these videos more toward a general audience, with the rest of our work being geared more toward those “in the trenches” of Title IX-related work.

We may also explore other avenues to diversify our social media presence. You may view all our social media channels here.

How you can help

There are several ways you can help us. One is to add your voice by writing articles and submitting them. You can send us evidence of recent bias within academia at specific schools for us to consider writing drawing public attention to. You can also donate, which greatly helps us offset costs and take things to the next level.

We do not normally ask for donations because 90% of our work over the past three years has been database development, which generally pays for itself. But this year, we are substantially expanding the scope of our work beyond the databases and could use any financial assistance you may be willing to provide. If you would like to donate, please do so here.

Let’s make 2022 great!