Title IX Administration Fails Students at Princeton, Brown

When Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 was enacted, it was intended to protect students against sex discrimination, including sexual harassment and sexual assault, at schools and education programs that receive federal funding.  However, over the years, student sexual assault survivors have often experienced the opposite of the protections that Title IX guaranteed. Incidents where schools have failed their obligations to female students continue to occur; violating Title IX by mishandling complaints of sexual harassment and abuse, inadequately investigating students’ claims.

For example, at Princeton University, a 2014 investigation into Title IX complaints revealed that the university had “favored the rights of students accused of sexual misconduct over those of the alleged victims,” according to a statement made by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.  Years later, in response to the findings of the investigation, students held heated Title IX protests and sit-ins outside Princeton’s president’s office, lobbying for the chance to pursue new accountability procedures for Title IX complaints. The protests, coupled with federal changes made to Title IX in May 2020, forced Princeton to change the way is conducts Title IX investigations.

Princeton isn’t the only Ivy League school to face this type of firestorm from students. In August 2021, plaintiffs firm Grant & Eisenhofer filed a federal class action on behalf of students at Brown University, alleging that the university systematically and repeatedly failed to protect women from harm, enabling sexual abuse.

Contact Grant & Eisenhofer’s Civil Rights Attorneys for a Consultation

The civil rights attorneys at Grant & Eisenhofer are here to help you determine if you have legal options to file a sexual harassment or sexual assault lawsuit.