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Overview of Title IX and 

the Clery Act

December 19, 2014

Overview of Title IX and the Clery Act

Introduction

• Welcome

• Purpose of the presentation

• Overview of the law

– Title IX 

– The Clery Act

– Reporting Options & Obligations


Title IX

Title IX

Title IX provides that “[n]o person in the United 

States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded 

from participation in, be denied the benefits of, 

or be subjected to discrimination under any 

education program or activity receiving Federal 

financial assistance.”  

20 U.S.C. § 1681(a)  



Enforcement of Title IX

• Title IX is enforced through two different 

mechanisms

– Civil litigation

– Department of Education Office for Civil 

Rights (“OCR”) investigation



Civil Liability

• Since the enactment of Title IX in 1972, the 

U.S. Supreme Court has recognized a private 

right of action  

– Davis v. Monroe County Bd. of Educ., 526 

U.S. 629 (1999)



United States Supreme Court 

Standards for Civil Liability

Davis v. Monroe County Bd. of Educ., 526 U.S. 629 (1999)

United States Supreme Court 

Standards for Civil Liability

“Actual Knowledge” and 

“Deliberate Indifference”

• Simpson v. Univ. of Colo. Boulder, 500 F.3d 1170 (10th 

Cir. 2007) (reversing summary judgment in favor of the 

university)

• Actual knowledge:

– Official school policy of showing recruits a “good time”

– Other sexual assault and harassment complaints 

implicating athletes and the recruiting program 

• Deliberate indifference:

– Failure to supervise and take steps to educate 

students regarding appropriate conduct in recruiting 

program


OCR Enforcement

• OCR is an agency within the DOE that 

focuses on ensuring equal access to 

education

– Injunctive relief; sanctions for non-compliance tied 

to federal funding

• Initially, Title IX focused on equal access to 

sports resources in education

– 2001 Guidance

– Watershed moment: April 4, 2011 Dear 

Colleague Letter


2011 Dear Colleague Letter Sets 

DOE Compliance Standard

DOE Compliance Standard

April 4, 2011 Dear Colleague Letter

• Central Requirements

– Standard applied to response:  

• Known or should have known – injunctive relief standard

• Stop the harassment, prevent it from recurring, and remedy 

the effects

– Standard applied to complaint process:  

Prompt and equitable

– Standard of proof applied during complaint 

process:  Preponderance of the evidence



April 4, 2011 Dear Colleague Letter

• Additional Specific Requirements:

– Notice to students of procedures for filing and 

pursuing a complaint;

– Requirement of impartial investigation of 

complaints, including the opportunity for both 

parties to present witnesses and other 

evidence; 



April 4, 2011 Dear Colleague Letter

• Additional Requirements continued:

– Designation of expected time frames for the 

complaint process;

– Notice to parties of the outcome of the 

complaint; 

– Assurance that the school will take steps to 

prevent recurrence of any harassment and 

correct its discriminatory effects on the 

complainant and others. 



Post Dear Colleague Letter

• National movement

– Begins in October 2012 at Amherst College

– Additional Title IX complaints filed

– Currently there are over 85 pending OCR 

investigations 



Post Dear Colleague Letter

• January 2014 Executive Action – Non-binding guidance

– President’s Task Force

• Campus Climate Survey

• Prevention programs

– Focus on Bystander Intervention

• Effective responses to reports – Trauma informed

– Protocol

– Training

– Online assistance

– Sample MOUs

• notalone.gov



Post Dear Colleague Letter

• April 2014 Guidance

– “Know your Rights”—Fact Sheet

– FAQs—Comprehensive Guidance

• Scope and Procedural Requirements

• Education and Prevention

• Interim Measures and Remedies

• Confidentiality and Reporting Obligations



The Clery Act

The Clery Act – Overview

• Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy 

and Campus Crime Statistics Act (“Clery Act”)

• Any crime reported to a Campus Security Authority 

(“CSA”) or local police department must be 

recorded and reported as required by Clery



Enforcement

• Enforcement

– No private right of action

– Administrative enforcement through the office of 

Federal Student Aid (“FSA”) within the DOE

• Secretary of Education may impose civil penalties on 

institutions that violate the Clery Act

• Maximum fine is $35,000 per violation 

• Each inaccuracy or failure to report or warn may 

constitute a separate violation 



Clery Crimes

– Criminal homicide

– Sex offenses

– Robbery

– Aggravated assault

– Burglary 

– Motor vehicle theft

– Arson


– Hate crimes 

– Liquor law violations 

– Drug-related violations

– Weapons possession

– Domestic violence*

– Dating violence*

– Stalking*

• Reportable crimes:



Requirements Related to Sexual 

Misconduct

• Collect statistics on Clery crimes occurring in 

specified geography

– Annual Security Report (“ASR”) 

– Maintain Daily Crime Log (for colleges that 

have campus security department)

• Issue campus alerts/timely warnings


Clery Jurisdiction

• ASR


– Report Clery crimes occurring in the following 

locations:

• On campus

• Residence halls

• Noncampus property (owned or controlled by university)

• Public property (within and adjacent to campus)

• Crime Log

– Report all crimes occurring in patrol jurisdiction 

of the campus police or security department


Timely Warnings

• Issue timely warnings to campus community 

of Clery crimes reported to CSAs or local 

police agencies that constitute a serious or 

continuing threat to students and employees


Timely Warnings

– Factors in determining whether crime 

presents a threat:

• The nature of the crime

• The continuing danger to the campus community 

• The possible risk of compromising law 

enforcement efforts

– “Timely” means “as soon as the pertinent 

information is available,” even before officials 

have all of the facts surrounding an incident



VAWA Amendments

• March 2014 VAWA Reauthorization (Campus 

SaVE Act)

– VAWA added additional categories to Clery 

reporting

• Domestic and dating violence

• Stalking

– VAWA expanded the definition of hate 

crimes to include:

• National origin

• Gender identity


VAWA Amendments

• VAWA Amendments, continued

– Education requirements

• Training students

• Ongoing prevention and awareness campaign

– Process requirements

• Notification of legal rights

• Notification of applicable standard

• Notification of possible sanctions

• Training individuals who participate in the 

grievance process


Intersection of Title IX and Clery

• Title IX and Clery intersect because 

“sex offenses” are crimes subject to the Clery 

reporting requirements

• VAWA, as described, creates significant 

overlap


• Note:  Not all reports that implicate Title IX 

are Clery-reportable crimes, and not all Clery-

reportable crimes implicate Title IX


Intersection of Title IX and Clery

• Title IX and Clery also intersect because 

Clery requires the issuance of “timely 

warnings” to campus community of Clery 

crimes that constitute a serious or continuing 

threat to students and employees

– VAWA amendments prohibit institutions from 

including the victim’s name in a timely warning



Reporting Options & Obligations

Reporting  Options & Obligations

• Survivors have various reporting options

including:

– Confidential Employees 

– Non-Confidential Employees 

• Responsible Employees

• Campus Security Authorities

– External Law Enforcement Authorities



Reporting Obligations - Confidential Employees

• Confidential employees are:

– Licensed clinical or mental-health professionals 

(including licensed rape crisis counselors)

– Religious leaders

• Not obligated to report for purposes of Title IX or 

Clery

• Precluded from disclosing identifying information at 



all absent very rare circumstances

– e.g., Clear and imminent danger to the victim 

absent disclosure


Reporting Obligations - Responsible Employees

• A responsible employee:

– Has the authority to take action to redress sexual 

violence;

– Has been given the duty of reporting incidents of 

sexual violence or any other misconduct by students 

to the Title IX Coordinator; or

– Is a person whom a student could reasonably believe 

has this authority or duty

• Obligated to report information to the Title IX 

Coordinator about complaints of sexual assault (and 

other forms of sex discrimination)



Reporting Obligations - CSAs

• CSAs are:

– Campus police/individuals with responsibility 

for campus security

– Individuals or organizations identified as 

someone to whom students and employees 

should report crimes

– Any official of the institution who has 

significant responsibility for student and 

campus activities



Reporting Obligations - CSAs

• Significant overlap with “responsible employees”

• Obligated to notify Clery coordinator of reports

• May also be obligated to notify Title IX

coordinator re: crimes related to sexual 

misconduct



Reporting Obligations - CSAs

• Note:  A report must be reported and documented 

for Clery purposes once a CSA has knowledge of 

the report, whether the student wants to proceed 

with a formal complaint or not

– A student need not pursue the Title IX process 

for the report to count for Clery purposes

– No names are provided as part of Clery 

reporting 


Reporting to Law Enforcement

• Legal Requirements

– Mandatory reporting to external police 

agencies for minors only

• Title IX Guidance

– Responsible employees are not obligated 

to report to law enforcement, and should 

balance reporting against student’s interest 

in, or request for, confidentiality

• FERPA confidentiality requirements



Encouraging Students to Report

• Balancing confidentiality and meeting obligations 

under Title IX

– “[T]he Title IX coordinator . . . should make every 

effort to respect [a student request for confidentiality] 

and should evaluate the request in the context of the 

school’s responsibility to provide a safe and 

nondiscriminatory environment for all students.”

– In some instances may need to “override” student’s 

interest in confidentiality in order to meet obligations 

under Title IX

• FERPA  confidentiality requirements



Conclusion

• Hard cases, competing goals, high level of 

sensitivity

• Title IX and the Clery Act contain detailed, 

highly technical, requirements

• Law and guidance is in a state of flux



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