Biden promised to reform Title IX. Students are tired of waiting

USA TODAY

Zachary Schermele

December 5, 2023

When Joe Biden ran for president, he promised to reform Title IX, the 1972 law that prohibits sex-based discrimination at schools that receive federal funding. Under his predecessor, Donald Trump, those accused of sexual misconduct were better shielded from consequences.

Those much-maligned standards are still in place, however, leaving a signature Biden campaign promise unfulfilled for nearly his entire first term in office. Over a year in, the administration proposed an overhaul of the federal rule, introducing guidance last June that would provide stronger support for transgender and nonbinary students, as well as victims of sexual assault.

Those rules haven’t been finalized. Earlier this year, the Education Department said it expected to complete them by October, a month that has now come and gone without final versions of the rules.

The status quo has left an increasingly vocal number of students and advocates frustrated at the regulatory gridlock, especially as a likely rematch between Trump and Biden looms.

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