Nina Gupta, Samantha Lewis, and Lexi Trumble co-authored an article in University Business examining key Title IX updates impacting ground-level compliance efforts for higher education institutions. The impacts to Title IX come as a federal district court rescinded Biden-era 2024 Title IX regulations that expanded the landmark civil rights law, the outgoing U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) stated that Title IX applies to student-athlete name, image and likeness (NIL) payments, and President Donald Trump issued an executive order foreshadowing his priorities and impending directives regarding Title IX.

"On January 20, 2025, President Trump issued an executive order that foreshadows his administration’s plans surrounding sex and gender," Nina, Samantha, and Lexi wrote. "While it does not have the force of law (executive orders cannot override existing federal laws or the U.S. Constitution), the order signals the president’s intent to narrow the scope of federal civil rights protections afforded under Title IX."

"Since its inception, Title IX has been interpreted and enforced by the U.S. Department of Education (Trump vowed to abolish the agency while on the campaign trail)," they continued. "Over the past 52 years, the DOE’s Title IX guidance has included dozens of fact sheets and other agency documents which, among other things, interpreted the statute’s reach to protect individuals from discrimination on the basis of not only biological sex, but gender identity and sexual orientation (as espoused in the 2024 Title IX regulations published under the Biden administration)."

"Trump’s executive order, in stark contrast, purports to establish a 'policy of the United States to recognize two sexes, male and female,' which the president contends are 'not changeable and are grounded in fundamental and incontrovertible reality,'" they wrote. "Electing to categorize individuals as male or female based on their cellular biology at conception, the order crystallizes the Trump administration’s position that biological sex — not gender identity — is dispositive in enforcing 'sex-protective laws' like Title IX."

To read the full article, click here: Trump’s Title IX Changes: What This Means for Your Institution

University Business is a leading publication serving the top higher education leaders at colleges and universities across the country.