The previous version of Title IX no longer aligned with federal law, which led to the immediately effective reversion.
The previous version of Title IX no longer aligned with federal law, which led to the immediately effective reversion.
The Office of Equity and Compliance sent an email Jan. 13 alerting the Loyola community the university’s Title IX policies were no longer compliant with federal regulations. To amend this, Loyola put a previous version of the policies into immediate effect.
The Comprehensive Policy, which details rules and procedures for addressing discrimination and sexual misconduct at Loyola, was no longer in alignment with federal law after Jan. 9, when a federal judge in Kentucky threw out the entirety of the Biden administration’s revised Title IX rules, The Associated Press reported.
In compliance with the Biden Administration’s Title IX rules, the 2024-25 Comprehensive Policy had more choice in how investigations of Title IX violations would be conduction, and included a broader definition of sexual harassment, The Phoenix previously reported.
However, the federal rules which enabled those changes are no longer in place, according to Tim Love, executive director for equity and compliance and Title IX coordinator at Loyola.
“They no longer have the force of law,” Love said. “They don’t exist. They got vacated. And what that does is returns the state of the regulations to the previous version of the regulations, which were put in place in 2020.”
The Biden Administration’s Title IX rules were criticized by conservatives and ultimately scrapped due to court opposition to expanded protections for LGBTQ+ students, specifically those with trans identities, The AP reported. Loyola is still subject to Illinois law, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sexuality and gender.
“There are plenty of little technical changes,” Love said. “But honestly, speaking for our students and their experience and their rights, the Comprehensive Policy that was in place in 2023 and 2024 maintained many of the same protections — virtually all of this.”
The 2023-24 policies were implemented based on 2020 Title IX regulations. Even with state protections, Loyola students could still experience a substantial impact from the reversal.
Love said the 2020 regulations narrowed the definition of Title IX and placed priority on procedural requirements. In cases where someone could be found responsible for sexual misconduct, universities were required to hold a live hearing which included the opportunity for both parties to cross-examine each other with the assistance of an advisor of their choice.
In 2024, the Biden administration’s Title IX policies gave universities the ability to choose whether or not to hold hearings as part of an investigation of sexual misconduct, and Loyola removed them from the process, according to Love.
Live hearings are a potential opportunity for sexual misconduct investigations to come at odds with trauma-informed care, according to Sam Hammett, the violence prevention and advocacy specialist at Loyola.
Trauma-informed care is when organizations examine the way they conduct themselves and make modifications based on how a trauma survivor might perceive what’s happening, according to National Sexual Violence Research Center website.
Hammett said each party in a hearing has a right to an advisor of their choice, which could lead to a situation where they’re required by law to be questioned about their assault by an attorney.
“The goal is to try and trip someone up or confuse someone,” Hammett said. “That’s a common tactic for interviewing suspects or guilty folks, right? And so when those tactics are used on a survivor who is experiencing trauma, then yes, it can absolutely serve to confuse them or overwhelm them. I’ve also seen a lot of survivors just get mad — rightfully so. They’re just like, ‘Why are you asking me this? I have answered this 14 times.’”
These hearings don’t need to be in conflict with trauma-informed care, Hammett said. As an institution, it’s possible for Loyola to mitigate some of the effects of having court hearings by purposefully implementing trauma-informed care wherever possible in the process.
Love said Loyola is committed to finding ways to make the hearing process as humane as possible.
Students may also be protected by Loyola’s mission. Loyola’s standards are informed by the law, but the university always has the right to enforce rules which exceed the law, Love explained.
“I think that everyone in this community is committed to trying to do right by our students,” Love said. “I think that our mission not only invites us to do that, but it requires us to do that, particularly for students who hold identities that are historically marginalized.”
Love extended an open invitation to any member of the community to contact [email protected] with questions.
Students can call The Line at Loyola at 773-494-3810 for confidential support and resources for sexual and relationship violence.
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