Policies, Definitions & Legal Rights

Understanding Title IX

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a federal civil rights law that prohibits sex- and gender-based discrimination in any educational program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.

Scope of Protection

Title IX applies to students, faculty, staff, applicants, and visitors. It guarantees equal opportunity and protects against discrimination in:

• Academic Programs & Coursework: Equal access to classes, labs, and degree paths.
• Athletics & Extracurriculars: Gender equity in facilities, funding, and participation.
• Sexual Misconduct & Violence: Sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating/domestic violence, and stalking.
• Pregnancy & Parenting: Protections against discrimination due to pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions.
• Gender Identity & Expression: Protection from harassment based on sex stereotypes, gender identity, or sexual orientation.

Legal Definitions & Standards

Sexual Misconduct: Any non-consensual behavior of a sexual nature committed through force, intimidation, coercion, or unwanted advance.

Sexual Harassment: Unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature determined by a reasonable person to be so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to COM’s education programs or activities.

In Texas, consent is an informed, voluntary, and affirmative agreement to engage in sexual activity expressed through clear words or actions.

• Active & Affirmative: Must be clearly communicated. Silence, passivity, or lack of resistance never equals consent.
• Ongoing: Must be present throughout the entire interaction and can be revoked at any time.
• Freely Given: Cannot be obtained using physical force, threats, intimidation, or coercion.
• Incapacity: Consent cannot be given by anyone who is asleep, unconscious, underage, mentally/physically impaired, or incapacitated due to drugs, alcohol, or medication.
• Dating Violence: Violence or abuse committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim.
• Domestic Violence: Felony or misdemeanor crimes of violence committed by a current or former spouse, intimate partner, co-parent, or person sharing a household.
• Stalking: Engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for their safety or suffer substantial emotional distress.
• Supportive Measures: Non-disciplinary, individualized services offered as appropriate, as reasonably available, and without fee or charge to the complainant or the respondent before or after the filing of a formal complaint or where no formal complaint has been filed (e.g., academic adjustments, schedule changes, mutual no-contact orders, campus escorts).
• Formal Complaint: A document filed by a complainant or signed by the Title IX Coordinator alleging sexual misconduct against a respondent and requesting that the college investigate the allegation.

Under Texas Education Code § 51.252 (SB 212), all college employees (including faculty, staff, and student employees) who receive information regarding an incident of sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence, or stalking involving a student or employee must promptly report all known details to the Title IX Coordinator.

Failure of an employee to report can result in mandatory termination of employment and criminal penalties under Texas law.

Exception: Licensed counselors in COM CARES acting in their professional medical/mental health role are exempt from mandatory reporting obligations to maintain patient confidentiality.

• Violence Against Women Act (VAWA): Improves institutional accountability, victim protections, and prevention efforts for campus-related incidents involving gender-based violence.
• Campus SaVE Act: Requires colleges to disclose crime statistics in annual Clery Act reports, provide mandatory prevention programming for incoming students and staff, and maintain transparent disciplinary standards.