2024 Title IX Regulation Updates
Posted July 26, 2024
Cornell University is committed to providing its students, faculty, and staff with a safe, inclusive, and respectful learning, living, and working environment. To this end, through Cornell University Policy 6.4, the university provides means to address bias, discrimination, harassment, and sexual and related misconduct.
Cornell Policy 6.4 and the associated Procedures are rooted in local, state, and federal laws, and must be updated as the legal landscape evolves. In April 2024, the Department of Education released updated Title IX regulations, set to go into effect nationwide on August 1, 2024. These updates feature a different definition of sex-based harassment, establish certain protections for students who are pregnant and have pregnancy-related conditions, require more employees to consult with the Title IX Coordinator when they learn of misconduct, and allow greater procedural flexibility in the adjudication of sex-based harassment formal complaints.
Cornell’s Office of Institutional Equity and Title IX has prepared draft updates to Policy 6.4 and the associated Procedures to ensure compliance by August 1. However, the 2024 Title IX regulations have faced multiple legal challenges, and as of July 25, 2024, injunctions have been issued prohibiting the Department of Education from enforcing the 2024 Title IX regulations in 21 states, as well as at hundreds of schools across the country, to include Cornell.
Given Cornell’s strong desire to ensure transparency and clarity in the Policy 6.4 processes, consistent with all applicable laws, the 2024 final regulations will not be enforced at Cornell until further guidance is provided by the Department of Education or the court system. In the meantime, Cornell will continue to use its current policies and procedures, which are compliant with the 2020 regulations and New York State law.
Any questions about Cornell Policy 6.4 or the associated Procedures should be directed to titleix@cornell.edu.
Department of Education Resources: