NEW YORK — The ACLU’s Women’s Rights Project filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request with the U.S. Department of Education (ED) today on behalf of Know Your IX, a project of Advocates for Youth. The ACLU and Know Your IX are seeking documents related to the anticipated release of a final rule with implications for how educational institutions address reports of sexual assault and harassment under Title IX.

The ACLU is specifically calling for the release of documents and materials pertaining to the impact of COVID-19 and related school closures, remote learning programming, and other measures on the application of the Title IX rule and any discussions ED officials may have had about those topics. The ACLU is seeking information to ensure the final rule will appropriately address reports of sexual assault and harassment in a remote learning setting.

Said Sage Carson, manager of Know Your IX, “Campuses may be closed, but that doesn’t mean students are no longer facing sexual harassment and assault. We sent a letter to over 500 University Presidents and Title IX administrators on how they can uphold survivors’ rights during COVID-19 school closures because the Department of Education failed to do so. Now we are demanding transparency from the Department on how COVID-19 and remote learning are impacting DeVos’ Title IX rule on sexual violence. Survivors deserve and demand to know what’s going on with Title IX.”

The FOIA request is here: https://www.aclu.org/aclu-kyix-foia-request