The Trump administration has deluged higher education with an avalanche of executive orders, Dear Colleague letters, and social media posts since January 20. Advocacy groups have responded with litigation in dozens of courts...more
The Trump administration continued its focus on immigration and indicated progress in trade talks as this week marked the end of its first 100 days....more
On April 24, 2025, a federal judge of the U.S. District Court for the District of New Hampshire largely blocked the U.S. Department of Education from cutting funding for schools that refuse to drop diversity, equity, and...more
We took the week off from our Week in Review alert last week as it was a (relatively) slow week. However, as it tends to happen after a slow week, developments picked back up this week....more
Headlines this week largely focused on the Department of Education, and rightfully so. As announced on Tuesday, President Trump’s administration terminated over 1,300 Department of Education employees this week – nearly 50%...more
On March 5, 2025, the National Education Association (NEA) and its New Hampshire affiliate (NEA-NH) sued the U.S. Department of Education, challenging a recently issued “Dear Colleague Letter” (DCL) that informed schools that...more
We reported last week that the pace of executive orders coming from the new presidential administration had begun to slow. While, overall, the rate does still appear to be slowing, this week has been a notable one....more
If nothing else, the early days of the Trump administration 2.0 have been a whirlwind of legal activity. Diversity, equity and inclusion efforts have of course been at the forefront and on February 14, 2025 the federal...more
On Friday, February 14, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) issued a “Dear Colleague” letter advising federally funded schools that it considers any decisions or benefits based on race,...more
On Friday, January 31, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) clarifying that, effective immediately, OCR will enforce Title IX in accordance with the 2020...more
In the last several weeks, three seismic events have altered the Title IX compliance landscape for colleges and universities around the country: A federal district court’s vacation of the Biden administration’s 2024 Title IX...more
On February 14, the U.S. Department of Education (ED) issued a new "Dear Colleague" letter to "clarify and reaffirm the nondiscrimination obligations of schools and other entities that receive federal financial assistance...more
On February 14, 2025, the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights (the “Department”) issued a “Dear Colleague Letter” to “clarify and reaffirm” that schools, colleges and universities receiving “federal financial...more
President Trump’s Executive Orders targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (“DEI”), discussed in previous client alerts with regard to higher education institutions and business more broadly, have prompted responses from...more
Confirming an anticipated policy shift, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) announced on Jan. 31, 2025 that it will enforce Title IX under the 2020 Title IX Rule. The announcement came after a...more
In Washington: After halting coronavirus stimulus negotiations on Tuesday afternoon, President Donald Trump hours later signaled he would support specific coronavirus relief measures on stimulus checks, help for the...more
Looks like the Department of Education has been busy again this month at the paper shredder. As part of the current administration’s ongoing efforts to eradicate Obama-era guidance that it deems “unnecessary, outdated,...more
The rise of the #MeToo movement is raising the question of whether sensitivity to sexual harassment of university employees will result in new policies and procedures similar to increased protections students received over...more
It’s hard to keep up with all the recent changes to labor and employment law. The law always seems to evolve at a rapid pace, and September 2017 was no different. In order to make sure that you stay on top of the latest...more
On September 22, 2017, the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (the OCR) issued a new Dear Colleague Letter officially withdrawing the April 4, 2011 Dear Colleague Letter on Sexual Violence and the April 29,...more
The Department of Education Office for Civil Rights has suggested that it is considering significant changes to or rescission of the April 4, 2011, Dear Colleague Letter on schools’ obligations to respond to sexual misconduct...more
Published reports indicate that President Trump’s proposed budget includes what is approximately a fifty percent reduction in the prior fiscal year’s funding for the United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil...more
Following revocation of Obama Administration transgender guidance, the U.S. Supreme Court has vacated the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit’s determination that a transgender student had shown a likelihood of...more
Seyfarth Synopsis: On March 6, 2017, the Supreme Court remanded a highly anticipated transgender rights case back to the Court of Appeals after the Trump Administration withdrew Obama era guidance regarding the rights of...more
The wait for a final resolution of the legal issues surrounding transgender students will be extended as the result of a decision yesterday by the United State Supreme Court in the landmark case, Gloucester County School Bd....more