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Athletics Compliance Training

Liz Lavoie, UMS EO and Title IX Services Coordinator

Cam McDonnell, UM/UMM Deputy Title IX Coordinator

Crawford Cleveland, III, UMS Associate General Counsel

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What we’ll be covering today!

Title VI

Title VII

Title IX

VAWA

Clery Act

Scenarios

Q & A

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Information	Title VI (Civil Rights Act of 1964)	Title VII (Civil Rights Act of 1964)	Title IX (Education Amendments of 1972)
Protected Classes	Race, Color, and National Origin	Race, Color, Religion, Sex (includes sexual orientation, gender identity, and pregnancy), National Origin	Sex (includes sexual harassment, sexual violence, pregnancy, and parental status)
Jurisdiction	Programs or activities receiving Federal Financial Assistance (covers virtually all federal grantees)	Employment	Education program or activity receiving Federal Financial Assistance

Liz

Federal Financial Assistance includes any federal funding such as: Grants, Loans, any other federal support (including for university operations, Student Aid. Research, pretty much all the things).

Program or Activity: Covers virtually all federal operations – for our purposes that would include admissions, academics, research, housing, athletics, and student services.

Hopefully this chart will help break down Title VI, Title VII, and Title IX.

Title VI – individual protections against discrimination based on race, color, and national origin in programs or activites receiving federal financial aid

Title VII – is an employment law and provide protection from discrimination including race, color, religion, sex, so sexual orientation, gender identifty, sexual harassment, pregnancy), and national origin.

Title IX – is part of the education amendments of 1972 and covers sex but has a more narrow view than Title VII. It include sexual harassment, sexual violence, pregnancy and pregnancy status in any educational program or activity receving federal financial assistance.

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Information	Title VI (Civil Rights Act of 1964)	Title VII (Civil Rights Act of 1964)	Title IX (Education Amendments of 1972)
Who It Applies To	Recipients of federal funding (e.g., state, and local governments, hospitals, public & private universities)	Employers with 15+ employees, including federal, state, and local governments, as well as employment agencies and labor organizations	Federally funded educational institutions (e.g., K-12 schools, colleges, and universities)
Primary Purpose	To ensure that public funds are not spent in a way that encourages, subsidizes, or results in race, color, or national origin discrimination	To prohibit discrimination in all terms and conditions of employment based on protected characteristics	To ensure equal access to education by prohibiting sex-based discrimination in all aspects of an educational program or activity

Liz

Title VI applies to recipients receiving federal funds which includes the university. Primary purpose is to ensure public funds are not spent in a way that discriminates against a person or group of people based on their race, color, or national origin. Keep in mind that Title VI would also cover things like shared ancestry, ethnic characteristic, ethnic background, harassment or slurs, appearance or style of clothing, accents or names commonly associated with ethnicity or shared ancestry.

Title VII applies to employers with 15 or more employees, and it prohibits discrimination in all areas of employment. For example, you can’t make an “English-only” rule in the workplace. Or you decide not to hire the best qualified candidate because they are Jewish.

Title IX is unique to educational institutions. It ensures equal access to education by prohibiting sex discrimination in all of our programs and activities.

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Information	Title VI (Civil Rights Act of 1964)	Title VII (Civil Rights Act of 1964)	Title IX (Education Amendments of 1972)
Standards of Discrimination	Agency regulations address practices that have an unjustified Disparate Impact.	Prohibits both: Intentional Discrimination (Disparate Treatment) and practices that result in Disparate Impact (unintentional discrimination)	Prohibits both Intentional Discrimination and through its implementing regulations, forms of harassment (like hostile environment) that are Severe, Pervasive, and Objectively Offensive

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National Origin – Actual or perceived (by others) place of origin, ancestry, ethnicity/ethnic characteristics, language, cultural heritage, or association with people of a particular nation or origin, regardless of a person’s citizenship or immigration status.

Race – a person’s actual or perceived (by others) membership in a group characterized by shared physical, cultural, or ethnic traits.

Color – the actual or perceived (by others) pigmentation, complexion, or shade/tone of a person’s skin.

Title VI – Applies to Recipients of Federal Funding

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Unequal Access & Opportunity

Exclusion from Teams
Discriminatory Recruitment

Unequal Treatment & Benefits

Resource Allocation
Coaching & Tutoring
Scheduling & Travel

Discrimination in Eligibility & Rules

Discriminatory Eligibility Standards

Harassment & Hostile Environment

Racial/Ethnic Harassment
Retaliation

Prohibited Discrimination in Practice �Under Title VI – Specific to Athletics

Liz

Unequal Access & Opportunity:

Discriminatory Recruitment – focusing its recruiting efforts exclusively on athletes from one racial or national origin group.

Exclusion from Teams – denying a student the opportunity to try our or participate in a sport because of their race, color, or national origin.

Unequal Treatment & Benefits:

Resource Allocation – providing significantly inferior facilities, equipment or supplies to an athletic team predominantly composed of students of one race or national origin compared to a team composed of a different race or national origin.

Coaching & Tutoring - Assigning less experienced or fewer coaches to teams based on the race or national origin of the athletes or denying equal access to academic tutoring services for student-athletes from certain national origin groups.

Scheduling & Travel – scheduling games or practices at inconvenient or undesirable times or providing inferior travel and per diem allowances to teams based on the race or national origin of the team members.

Discrimination in Eligibility & Rules:

Discrimination Eligibility & Rules - Implementing or adhering to eligibility standards (like standardized test score cutoffs) that have a demonstrably disproportionate and unjustified negative impact (disparate impact) on students of a particular race or national origin, thus denying participation in athletics.

Harassment & Hostile Environment:

Racial/Ethnic Harassment allowing student-athletes to be subjected to severe, pervasive, or objectively offensive racial, color, or national origin slurs, epithets, or taunts by coaches, staff, or other students (or even fans) without taking prompt and effective corrective action. This includes harassment based on a student’s actual or perceived shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics.

Retaliation – punishing or retaliating against a student (e.g., removing them from the team or reducing their scholarship) for filing a complaint or speaking out against practices they believe violate Title VI.

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Sex – Including gender, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical condition, sexual orientation, and gender identity.

Also includes National Origin, Race, and Color which have the same definition we previously discussed for Title VI.

Religion – An individuals sincerely held religious, ethical, or moral beliefs, practices, or observations. This includes the absence of religious beliefs.

Title VII – Employment Law (Employer-Employee Relationship Exists)

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Harassment & Hostile Work Environment

Racial/National Origin Harassment
Sexual Harassment

Retaliation

Retaliation Against a Coach

Discrimination in Hiring,

Promotion, and Termination

Discrimination Hiring of Coaches
Refusal to Promote
Religious Discrimination
Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity Discrimination

Prohibited Discrimination in Practice Under Title VII – Specific to Athletics

Liz

Discrimination in Hiring, Promotion, and Termination:

Discriminatory Hiring of Coaches: A university refusing to hire a qualified Black, Hispanic, or Female applicant for a coaching or athletic director position, choosing instead a less-qualified white applicant, based on a stereotype about who is suitable for a leadership role in that sport.

Refusal to Promote: Denying a female assistant coach a promotion to head coach of a men's team, despite her experience, due to a stereotype that women cannot effectively coach male athletes.

Religious Discrimination: Firing an athletic trainer because they must miss practices or games due to an inflexible religious observance (unless the employer can prove it would cause an undue hardship on the program).

Sexual Orientation/Gender Identity Discrimination: Firing an employee in the athletic department (e.g., a ticket manager, equipment manager, or coach) because of their sexual orientation or because they are transgender.

Harassment & Hostile Work Environment:

Racial/National Origin Harassment: A team manager being subjected to continuous, severe, or pervasive racial slurs or jokes from colleagues or supervisors within the athletic department, and the employer failing to take prompt, corrective action.

Sexual Harassment: A female employee in the sports information department being subjected to unwanted sexual advances, comments, or a hostile work environment by a supervisor or fellow employee.

Retaliation:

Retaliation against a Coach: A coach being demoted or terminated after they reported a racial or sexual harassment incident involving a colleague, or after they advocated for equal pay for a coach of a different gender.

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Unique to Athletics in that it provides equitable opportunities across three main areas: Participation (three-part test), Financial Assistance, and the provision of “Other Benefits and Treatment”

Also covers sexual harassment and quid pro quo inside/outside of athletics

Sex – includes sexual harassment, sexual violence, pregnancy, and parental status

Title IX – Applies to Recipients of Federal Funding

Liz

To be clear this is a million-foot view!
Note the definition of sex is much narrower than Title VII employment law.
To be clear this is a million-foot view! There is a lot that goes into this, and people dedicate their careers to specializing in Title IX Athletics. Essentially Schools must meet one of the following: Proportionality of participants: this looks at the university’s student body and how many are male/female and then translates that to athletics participation. If there is an underrepresented sex the school must look at expanding, it’s athletic program offering's and must look at proportionality when elimination any opportunities.
Financial Assistance looks at athletic scholarships offered to male and female athletes – must be substantially proportion to respective participation rates in the athletic program.
Lastly, it looks at Equivalent Benefits and Treatments often referred to as the “Laundry List” across 11 specific areas ensuring they are not disparities with equipment, supplies, locker rooms, fields, practice times, game times, travel and per diem, coaching, and tutoring.

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Jurisdiction

“education program or activity”
all operations of the University (locations, events, etc)
University has substantial control over both the Respondent and the context
Includes any building owned or controlled by a student org (including athletic & Greek houses)

Title IX – Sexual Harassment

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Conduct on the basis of sex must satisfy one or more of the following:

Quid Pro Quo
Severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it denies equal access
VAWA crimes

Title IX Sexual Harassment

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Title IX Student Services

What we provide….

Reporting Options
Accommodations
Support (for both parties)
Resources
Prevention Education

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UMS Title IX and Equal Opportunity

What we provide….

Reporting Options
Accommodations
Support (for both parties)
Resources
Gender Equity in Athletics

Disparate Treatment
Guidance & Oversight of all Title VI, Title VII, & IX Matters
Investigations Oversight
Filing Complaints on Behalf of Others

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University of Maine

Many occur within initial weeks of school
Res Life most common referral source
Student-athletes are more likely to be assaulted by another student-athlete than a non-athlete
Most complainants are female, most respondents are male
1 in 6 (RAAIN)�

Fast Facts about UM

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The Rule of 3 – if you answer yes to ANY of the questions you must report.

Is the person telling you a student, staff, faculty, guest, vendor, or volunteer?
Is the person telling you, alleging that a student, staff, faculty, guest, vendor, or volunteer did this?
Did the incident occur on campus?

If you answer yes to ANY of the above 3 questions, you must report the incident

Title IX & Mandated Reporting

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Once the University is on notice we must take immediate and appropriate steps to

Stop the harassment
Remedy the effects
Prevent a recurrence

This is why reporting is not optional

Title IX - Reporting

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How can you report a concern you have about a student?

umaine.edu/titleix/
Call (207) 581-1485
Stop into Memorial Union 235
Email um.titleix@maine.edu or cam.mcdonnell1@maine.edu

….but then what happens next?

Title IX – Reporting (Student)

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Hi, my name is Cam….

Resources
Options
Support

Title IX Reporting

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How can you report a concern you have about a staff member, faculty member, yourself, guest, vendor, volunteer, etc?

….but then what happens next?

Title IX – Reporting (Non-student)

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Hi, my name is Liz (or Krissinda)….

Resources
Options for Reporting
Support
Investigation or Referral

What Does Outreach Look Like?

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Private

On Campus

Title IX Student Services�207-581-1406

*UMaine Police Dept.�911/ 207-581-4040

Confidential

On Campus

Cutler Health Center, 207-581-4000
Counseling Center, 207-581-1392
Confidential Resource Advisor (call/text), 207-572-5372

Off Campus

Rape Response, 1-800-310-0000
Partners for Peace, 1-800-863-9909
Penobscot Nation DV/SA Shelter, 1-207-631-4886
EAP (Employees) 1-877-622-4327�

Resources

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Prompt, Fair, & Impartial Disciplinary Process for Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence & Stalking

Annual training for those involved in the disciplinary process

Made amendments to the Jeanne Clery Act

*VAWA protections apply to all victims regardless of sex, gender identity or sexual orientation

Requires prevention & education program offerings for students & employees

Requires university to provide written notification of rights & options to victims & to offer supportive measures

VAWA (Violence Against Women* Reauthorization Act)

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The Jeanne Clery Act

ASR - Requires colleges and universities to report campus crime data, support victims of violence, and publicly outline the policies and procedures they have put into place to improve campus safety (in 2025 we must also count Hazing statistics)
Includes:

Criminal offenses
Hate crimes
VAWA offenses
Arrests and referrals for disciplinary action

Timely warnings & emergency Notifications
Hazing – must included in Clery data, impliment policy and hazing prevention, must also provide a Campus Hazing Transparency Report when there has been an finding of hazing

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You overhear a student athlete talking about a “fan” that has been seen at the last couple of practices and home games. Nothing particular sticks out in their conversation.
Next week you notice a “fan” watching three of your athletes walk across the parking lot. The “fan” starts to head their way and is yelling something, but you can’t make out what they are saying. The athletes don’t look upset, so you continue speaking with your other athletes.
A few weeks later, the same group of athletes are talking about a YikYak post about them and some Insta DM’s they recieved.

Scenario 1

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They show you the text and DM’s which are pictures of the athletes.
The images look like they are from a protest. Two of the athletes are holding banners and the other one is carrying a large flag.
The athletes say they didn’t participate in a protest and aren’t sure who posted the images to YikYak and sent the DM’s.

What do you do?

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A graduate student TA is dating one of your athletes. The grad has a good connection with folks in the department and seems to be building repour with other student athletes.
Your athlete seems upset and is really concerned about an upcoming exam.
Your athlete asks to talk to you because they failed their exam. You meet with the athlete, and they explain that their partner tried to tutor them, but they just couldn’t grasp the material, it’s a really hard course.

Scenario 2

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As you continue talking with the athlete you realize the grad student is actually their TA.

What do you do?

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Your partner is in a crowd of fans and overhears some derogatory remarks being said about the opposing team.
The fans are yelling racial slurs and making derogatory comments towards the opposing teams’ players.
Your partner shares this with you later that evening.

What do you do?

Scenario 3

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Trends

Texting Conversations
Spidey-sense

In what ways can we help you all?

Discussion

Liz

I have noticed an uptick in inappropriate texting conversations that include coaches, staff, and student athletes. I’ve also seen some harmful texts between students and student athletes. I think this is a good reminder that it’s easy to shoot off a text when you have a student at your door, a practice to run, or want to get information out to a group quickly. Just be mindful of what you are saying and how you are saying it. Remind your athletes of this too. Whatever you send today could be in an email to the President tomorrow, on the cover of the Bangor Daily, or leaked online. If someone saw the text and you must explain context about it, just don’t send it.

I’ve also seen some text that have been highly inappropriate and have sexual overtones, just don’t., it’s not worth it. And if your students are sending them in a group chat and you are in the chat, that’s a problem.

With that said, I would like to solicit a few of you all and a couple athletes to look, some guidelines and best practices around texting. To be clear, I am not saying don’t text your students, I’m saying let’s work together on building something we all can hold each other accountable to.

And lastly, I want to talk about what I often refer to my “spidey-sense.” That internal thing that makes you do a second circle, or you wake up in the middle of the night thinking about it. When you can’t put your finger on circle, but something seems off. Maybe it’s nothing but maybe not. We are information collectors and gatherers. Maybe you give me a call and say, “Liz, this is probably nothing but…..” and then next week another person reaches out to me with the same thing, then I get some more information over here, it can come full circle, and we can formulate a plan or outreach. I would much rather check in with someone and it be nothing, than get a report and uncover something has been going on for a few years. Does that make sense?

Now, we want to turn it over to you all and see if there is anything that we can help you with?

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�Crawford Clevland, III

207-581-5841

general.counsel@maine.edu �

Liz Lavoie

207-581-5866

titleix@maine.edu

Cam McDonnell

207-581-1485

cam.mcdonnell1@maine.edu

�

Questions?

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