For the first time in a long time, the federal government is standing with the public, including one often overlooked group — college students.
For too long, college students have had to endure policies that directly threaten their rights and academic freedom, from diversity, equity, and inclusion policies to sanctions on free speech. Now is the time to hold colleges accountable and ensure that they remain a place of free discourse and intellectual growth, not woke ideological enforcement.
This week we witnessed the Trump administration crack down on these woke policies, revoking a foreign visa of a student who was inciting pro-Hamas protests. This is yet another step in the aggressive schedule that this administration is taking for students to ensure that schools focus on education and stop turning America’s civil rights laws on their heads to protect the harassers and punish those whose civil rights are actually being violated.
Beyond addressing students who incite violence, the administration is also taking decisive action against gender ideology. Significant progress has been made to uphold Title IX, ensuring that policies align with fairness, common sense, and the protected rights of students. The Biden administration’s Title IX changes sparked mass confusion and serious First Amendment concerns, pushing students into a delusional game where they would be forced to recognize someone’s chosen gender identity over their biological sex. These policies were promptly reversed by the Trump administration and included the signing of an executive order reaffirming the recognition of only two genders.
While the Trump administration has restored common sense to America, the fight is not over. These changes have raised critical questions among schools, including: What are the consequences for maintaining Biden’s Title IX changes that elevate so-called “gender identity” over women? Which policies have to be changed to comply with Trump’s executive orders and reversion to the 2020 Title IX policies? And perhaps the most dangerous question: Can schools get away with continuing to promote gender ideology at the expense of women, allowing men into women’s spaces while silencing those who disagree?
Unfortunately, the answer to that last question will often be that schools will try to get away with it. We have seen it over and over again where schools are trying to limit the rights of their students because they think they can get away with it.
MAHMOUD KHALIL IS JUST THE BEGINNING
There are concrete steps to be taken to stop these actions being carried out by schools. First, students must know that it is unlawful for schools to continue to implement Biden’s Title IX policies. Second, students have the power to push back and have these universities take accountability.
All people, including college students, have the right to speak freely, and they should not be forced to ascribe to gender ideology by affirming biologically incorrect pronouns or self-censoring rather than speaking out against men in women’s spaces. The violation of these rights is grounds to sue these schools, and the Southeastern Legal Foundation stands ready to assist any students who witness the unlawful continuation of Biden’s Title IX policies in their school.
Cece O’Leary is the Director of Legal Initiatives at the Southeastern Legal Foundation