Student Affairs and Title IX

Student Affairs

In the student affairs arena, we have extensive experience with student conduct codes and disciplinary cases in both academic integrity and non-academic misconduct, admissions, mass student demonstrations, campus safety issues, athletics, student organizations (including fraternities and sororities), a range of policies, the disclosure and release of student records, serious student health and wellness issues. Notable experience from attorneys on our team includes:

• Successful resolution of countless cases with the Office for Civil Rights involving claimed discrimination, including resolving numerous cases involving traditional discrimination complaints as well as many cases involving identity-related programs, clubs and other programs. This advice has extended to proactively ensuring DEI-related programs are offered in a compliant, defensible manner, including advice on how to explain changes to community stakeholders.
• De-escalation of innumerable student issues and advice and counsel throughout disciplinary proceedings to prevent litigation or ensure strong defense. Design and conduct proactive trainings for student conduct teams on trends and recent examples.
• Advise on all aspects of admissions-related issues, including impact of recent Supreme Court holdings on admissions and scholarships, use of criminal history in admissions and sensitive admissions fraud matters. 
• Assisting institutions with time-critical assessments of students facing mental and other health challenges, including participation in behavioral intervention/care team meetings and the evaluation of potential involuntary leaves of absence.
• Successful defense of numerous student disciplinary proceedings arising out of academic misconduct, including sophisticated schemes to cheat.
• Development of student athlete drug-testing programs.
• Comprehensive advice to dozens of institutions in the design, implementation and operation of Title IX and Title IX-adjacent policies and procedures through suggestive legislative and regulatory changes at the federal and state levels.
• Review and development of student-centered policies, including student handbooks, FERPA-related policies, disability accommodation procedures and “technical standards,” time, place and manner policies governing student speech and policies covering students studying abroad.

Title IX, Clery Act and VAWA

Over 50 years after its passage, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 continues to evolve in how it seeks to prohibit educational institutions from discriminating on the basis of sex. As a result of the law’s shifting regulatory provisions, colleges and universities have an ever-increasing need for timely, practical legal advice concerning Title IX compliance.

To meet this need, Bond has a team devoted to assisting our college and university clients fulfill their Title IX obligations, understanding rule changes as they occur and helping them navigate the space where state and federal requirements intersect, or even collide. Our Title IX team consists of attorneys who are not only knowledgeable about Title IX and its newest regulatory requirements concerning the investigation and adjudication of sexual misconduct cases, but also as it relates to sexual assault prevention guidance, gender equity in athletics and increasing focus on gender identity.

We work with our clients in connection with internal disciplinary proceedings and appeals and we defend our clients in the event of external legal challenges to disciplinary results. We have extensive experience representing clients in court on Title IX matters and before governmental enforcement agencies, including the Office for Civil Rights.

We work with each client to craft a Title IX policy solution that fits the institution’s needs and culture. We also assist clients with disciplinary policy implementation, including hearing procedures, as well as Clery Act compliance and reporting. We have extensive experience in Clery Act compliance, including the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) amendments to the Clery Act, and can provide everything from comprehensive, full-scale Annual Security Report review to discrete answers to questions on the minutiae of reporting statistics, geography and required policies.

Our team also regularly provides training to administrators and other “responsible employees” with reporting and/or investigatory responsibilities, in each case designed to fit an institution’s specific policy, organizational structure and campus culture. We have extensive speaking experience in this space, which includes numerous presentations at the Commission on Independent Colleges and Universities and NACUA, among other national and regional conferences; one team member participated in a U.S. Congressional roundtable with Rep. Ro Khanna and former Rep. Carolyn Maloney on sexual misconduct on campus.