Thursday, 9 June 2016 - 11:23am

Complying with Title IX and Promoting Academic Freedom, Is This Possible?
Presenter: Peter F. Lake

Center for Excellence in Higher Education Law and Policy

Date: June 13, 2016
2:00 - 3:00 PM EDT

Cost: $299.00 per site

ACPA has received a special discount please use the code, ACPA2016 (case sensitive), when registering. 
This will reduce your price to $200.00.

Register Here: https://www.regonline.com/register/checkin.aspx?EventId=1844854&MethodId=0&EventSessionId=&startnewreg=1

Title IX compliance response systems and academic freedom have clashed over “trigger warnings” in the classroom and investigatory processes that arguably chill academic activities and discourse. AAUP has criticized strongly OCR’s Title IX enforcement efforts in a recent document titled The History, Uses and Abuses of Title IX. Faculty must balance teaching and discussing controversial and even potentially traumatizing material with Title IX compliance mandates. 

A critical component of academic freedom is the right to speak on matters of public importance in an appropriate way—have Title IX compliance efforts diminished that right?

This presentation will explore the possibility that Title IX compliance work and academic freedom are not always working at cross purposes. We can seek to create balanced, safe, and enriching learning environments at college campuses that are supportive of academic freedom and legitimate compliance goals. What is the role of faculty in striking this balance with Title IX, and how can we enlist their support? How can Title IX response systems and academic freedom coexist, and even be mutually supportive?

This webinar will provide an understanding of how the courts currently treat academic freedom and administrative autonomy, as well as the role of the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights guidance in protecting First Amendment/academic freedom rights in the context of higher education. Furthermore, detailed and practical suggestions will be offered for how to effectively calibrate school policies in a manner which improves the efficacy of Title IX response systems while protecting and promoting academic freedom.

Such measures include, but are not necessarily limited to:

  • evaluating Title IX policies and procedures with respect to First Amendment requirements;
  • making specific improvements on instructional design and delivery;
  • understanding the interrelation of OCR’s Title IX Guidance with the 2003 guidance on hate speech;
  • effective training initiatives for Title IX investigators and others on “hostile environment”;
  • and improving communication with faculty about new and emerging Title IX mandates.

Presenter: Peter F. Lake

Charles A. Dana Chair and Director, Center for Excellence in Higher Education Law and Policy
B.A., Harvard University
J.D., Harvard Law School