Laws and Policies Relevant to Discrimination and Sexual Misconduct

Title VI of Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VI) prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in programs or activities that receive federal financial assistance.

Protected programs and activities may include, but are not limited to: admissions, recruitment, financial aid, academic programs, student treatment and services, counseling and guidance, discipline, classroom assignment, grading, vocational education, recreation, physical education, athletics, and housing.

Title VI prohibits a recipient from intimidating, threatening, coercing, or retaliating against any person because they made a complaint; testified, assisted, or participated in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing; or opposed an unlawful educational practice or policy. 

Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (Title VII) is the federal law that prohibits discrimination in employment based on protected classes of race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. 

The law also created the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), comprised of five members, which has authority to enforce the provisions of this law.

Protection covers the full spectrum of employment decisions, including recruitment, selections, terminations, and other decisions concerning terms and conditions of employment. 

A person who files a complaint or participates in an investigation of an EEO complaint, or who opposes an employment practice made illegal under any of the laws that EEOC enforces is protected from retaliation.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) prohibits discrimination based on sex in education programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance.

Specifically, Title IX states: "No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance."

Examples of the types of sex-based discrimination that are covered under Title IX include, but are not limited to: sex-based harassment; sexual violence; pregnancy discrimination; the failure to provide equal athletic opportunity; sex-based discrimination in a school's science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) courses and programs; discriminatory application of dress code policies and/or enforcement; and retaliation.

Since the law's inception, there have been many legal cases that helped evolve and define this law to improve institutional responses* to instances of reported sexual misconduct. 

Significant Legislation Changes

• May 2020 Title IX Legislation: This was the first time specific protections against sexual harassment were enshrined into law since 1972. According to the U.S. Department of Education, these laws were implemented in order to ensure fair and nondiscriminatory processes, consistent with everyone’s rights to free speech and due process. In addition to revised definitions and procedural standards, the most significant changes to University policy included the addition of live hearings and cross-examination, and separations between what is defined as Title IX sexual misconduct vs. Non-Title IX sexual misconduct.
  
  
• April 2024 Title IX Legislation: According to the U.S. Department of Education's summary and fact sheet, the new rules prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, strengthen protections against all forms of sex-based harassment, protect students from discrimination based on pregnancy and childbirth, protect students who seek to avail their Title IX rights from retaliation, and require schools to promptly address all complaints of sex discrimination with a “fair, transparent, and reliable process.”

Note*: Learn more about how the university processes and responds to instances of reported Title IX and Non-Title IX sexual misconduct within the University Policies & Procedures section of our website. 

The original Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) passed in 1994 and was the first federal legislation acknowledging domestic violence and sexual assault as crimes and provided federal resources to encourage community-coordinated responses to combating violence against women.

Up for renewal every five years, each VAWA reauthorization has built on existing protections and programs to better meet the needs of people who experience dating/domestic violence and sexual assault. 

VAWA Reauthorization Over the Years*

• 2000: The first VAWA reauthorization. Legislation created a much-needed legal assistance program for victims and included responses to dating violence and stalking. It reauthorized critical grant programs and subsequent legislation, established new grant programs, and strengthened federal law. It also reinforced the role of state and territorial domestic violence coalitions in coordinating advocacy and services for survivors.
  
  
• 2005: In 2005, VAWA’s reauthorization produced new, holistic responses and programs to meet the emerging needs of survivors and communities, such as prevention, landmark housing protections for survivors, funding for rape crisis centers, and culturally and linguistically specific services.
  
  
• 2013: In 2013, VAWA’s reauthorization enhanced access to safety and justice for Native women, immigrants, LGBTQ+ individuals, college students and youth, and public housing residents. 
  
  
• 2022: In 2022, VAWA's reauthorization included groundbreaking provisions to strengthen and modernize the law. The law provides survivors, the thousands of local programs that serve them, and communities with much-needed resources for housing, legal assistance, alternatives to criminal responses, and prevention programming. It also included new economic justice provisions and bolsters access for survivors of all genders by strengthening non-discrimination laws and creating an LGBTQ services program. The law also restored tribal jurisdiction, allowing tribes to hold non-Native perpetrators accountable, improved existing housing protections, increased access to emergency and short-term housing, and created dedicated investments in culturally specific service providers to ensure survivors of color are supported.

Note*: VAWA reauthorization information provided here was adapted from the NNEDV.

The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act, more commonly known as the “Clery Act”, is a federal law that requires colleges and universities, both public and private, participating in federal student aid programs to disclose campus safety information, and imposes certain basic requirements for handling incidents of sexual violence and emergency situations.

Disclosures about crime statistics and summaries of security policies are made once a year in an Annual Security Report (ASR), and information about specific crimes and emergencies is made publicly available on an ongoing basis throughout the year.

The Clery Act is named in memory of Jeanne Clery who was raped and murdered in her residence hall room by a fellow student on April 5, 1986. Her parents advocated for laws requiring the disclosure of campus crime information, and the federal law that now bears their daughter's name was first enacted in 1990. It has been amended regularly over the last two decades to keep up with changes in campus safety and expansion of the law's requirements concerning the handling of sexual violence. 

The University of Colorado Board of Regents consists of nine members serving staggered six-year terms, one elected from each of Colorado's eight congressional districts and one from the state at large. The board is charged constitutionally with the general supervision of the university and the exclusive control and direction of all funds of and appropriations to the university, unless otherwise provided by law.

The CU Board of Regents have 15 laws (articles) all university community members are required to comply with regarding professional and ethical conduct. 

In addition to providing the university's nondiscrimination statement, Article 8: Conduct of University Community Member states expectations for university employees to understand and uphold the highest standards of professional, legal, and ethical conduct to ensure the health and safety of all campus constituents.