Universities across the country, including the University of New Mexico, have reverted to 2020 federal regulations that increased rights for students accused of sexual misconduct and did not explicitly protect LGBTQ+ students.
This follows a Feb. 4 Department of Education notice that instructed schools to revert to the Title IX regulations that were in place during President Donald Trump’s first administration. The last major shift for Title IX occurred in August 2024, when some universities, including UNM, implemented regulations put in place by then-President Joe Biden’s administration.
Passed in 1972, Title IX is a federal law that, in part, protects people from sex-based discrimination at public universities that receive federal funding. It also requires universities to prevent, assess, investigate and resolve complaints, according to UNM Compliance, Ethics & Equal Opportunity.
The reversion will not significantly impact UNM overall, according to Francie Cordova, chief compliance officer at the Office of Compliance, Ethics & Equal Opportunity. But the 2024 regulations broadened the definition of sex-based discrimination to protect students from discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
The ED notice also cited a Trump executive order that reads that there are “two sexes, male and female,” stating that Title IX should be enforced accordingly.
Though UNM will no longer follow the 2024 regulations, it will find a way to maintain the expanded definition of sex-based discrimination through different policies or laws, Cordova said.
“For us, whether we proceed under Title IX or another policy we have — because our New Mexico state laws make it very clear that we protect gender identity and sexual orientation and all the things that we would have protected in the past — we will still continue to address those behaviors,” Cordova said.
The New Mexico Human Rights Act defines gender identity as a person’s self-perception, “whether or not it matches the person's gender or sex assigned at birth.”
The 2020 Title IX regulations required live hearings during which a student accusing someone of sexual assault and the student being accused could cross-examine each other, according to The New York Times, including through a lawyer. UNM did not get rid of this practice with the 2024 regulations, so this will not prompt any changes, Cordova said.
In terms of addressing Title IX complaints, the Office of Compliance, Ethics & Equal Opportunity may change some things about the internal approach, according to Cordova, but will not change the fact that it addresses them.
“It’s really for us on the back end to make sure we’re capturing which policies are responsive to whatever the allegation is,” Cordova said. “At the front end, it’s still going to look the same.”
The 2024 regulations also expanded the University’s jurisdiction to address complaints through Title IX, though UNM already had separate procedures for investigating off-campus incidents.
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Title IX regulations have changed with each of the last four administrations, according to the NYT. The 2024 regulations prompted federal judges to block them from being enforced in 26 states, according to the ED. Cordova said that approaching the law as a political issue rather than a civil rights issue is a “disservice.”
“We still want everyone on this campus, no matter what their status or statuses are, to be free from discrimination and harassment and feel safe,” Cordova said. “That’s still the vision and mission that we’re proceeding forward with, no matter how things are defined in one particular law.”
Lily Alexander is the editor-in-chief of the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at editorinchief@dailylobo.com or on X @llilyalexander
Lily Alexander is the 2024-2025 Editor of the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at editorinchief@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @llilyalexander
