Some of president Trump's executive orders target what he calls gender ideology. KBIA's Alex Cox has sat down with Marcia McCormick, a professor of law and women and gender studies at Saint Louis University to talk about how these policies affect universities, specifically Title IX offices.
Here's a excerpt of their conversation:
Cox: Could you explain what Trump’s executive orders would do to Title IX offices?
McCormick: So, almost every university in the country that has a Title IX Office has rules and policies that comported with the regulations during the first Trump administration.
And so a number of them had promulgated some new policies or updated their policies potentially when the new Biden regulations were promulgated.
Often what Title IX requires is like a floor. And some schools might have gone beyond. But this new executive order suggests actually, those rules are a ceiling.
Whereas before, schools might have been able to be more inclusive of transgender students. Now this executive order suggests that they are required to not be inclusive in certain ways.
Cox: As these questions of democracy get ironed out, how might that might affect the implementation of these policies?
McCormick: The executive orders themselves are probably, and you know, it's hard to say exactly what the purpose of anything is, designed to encourage compliance with the view of the law that is contained in the executive order. Even if the view of the law is not enforceable.
But the fear of losing federal funding, the fear of being a target of litigation and public outcry is often enough to get big institutions to conform.
Cox: What might a university who wants to stand on business against the idea behind these executive orders do?
McCormick: They could take a page from K-12. So a great example has been set recently in Oklahoma, where the Secretary of Education in Oklahoma said students have to see this video of me praying for President Trump and the K -12 are like, yeah, we don't have time and they're just not complying.
That might seem strange, but you know kind of ignoring some of the things is an option.
Cox: I was wondering what you think the implication of the philosophy coming down from the executive branch will have in the next four years?
McCormick: They're sort of two main takeaways I have from all of this stuff. One is that it's creating this permission structure for people to engage in discrimination that they wouldn't otherwise have felt comfortable enough to engage in.
On the other hand, I think even though things seem really scary at the moment and they're going to continue to be scary. I think that there will be some very important work that still gets done that can move us forward during the administration and after it.
KBIA reached out to several universities for comment on how Trump's executive orders might impact their campuses. None granted an interview. These are the responses we did receive.
University of Missouri:
"At the University of Missouri, we are committed to following the law. These executive orders address federal agencies, so their effects on universities will depend on the interpretations and actions of those agencies under the laws they administer. The University will continue to monitor and review information from federal agencies to ensure that we remain in compliance with federal law.”
Truman State University:
“We have recently had some personnel changes in our Title IX office, so I don’t think I have anyone who would be able to speak to you on this topic at this time. I do know that due to the decision of the federal court in St. Louis last July to enjoin the implementation of the 2024 Title IX regulations in Missouri, Truman continued to follow the Title IX regulations put in place in 2020.
The “Dear Colleague” letter from the Department of Education last week, and updated yesterday, makes it clear that the 2020 Title IX regulations should be followed throughout the U.S.”
Missouri State University:
“We are evaluating the rapidly changing landscape. We will continue to monitor changes to state or federal law and adjust as needed.”
