The U.S. Department of Education (ED) rescinded the Biden Administration’s Title IX rules on Sept. 28, replacing them with regulations instated by the first Trump Administration in 2020. The rescinded regulations include protections based on gender identity and sexual orientation, among other provisions related to due process.
Title IX is the 1972 federal law that prohibits discrimination based on sex in federally-funded educational institutions. Reinstating the 2020 regulations aligns Title IX protections with “biological reality, not ideological fantasy,” according to the department’s press release.
“Today’s rulemaking clears the Biden Administration’s illegal rewrite of Title IX from the Code of Federal Regulations and restores the commonsense language promulgated in the first Trump Administration, which we have been enforcing since the first days of the Administration,” Linda McMahon, U.S. Secretary of Education, said in the press release.
Stett Holbrook, UC associate director of strategic and critical communications, said that UC Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy will not change. Title IX procedures at UC Irvine and other UC campuses will not change, according to a message the UC Office of the President sent to UC campuses on Oct. 9.
Due to a 2024 federal court injunction, UC did not implement the Biden administration’s framework.
“The University of California is committed to providing educational opportunities, programs and services free from discrimination and harassment,” Holbrook said in an email to New University. “UC policy expressly prohibits discrimination and harassment based on sex (including sexual violence and sexual harassment), sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression and related retaliation.”
In January of 2025, President Trump signed an executive order that recognizes only two sexes, and requires that enforcement of Title IX is consistent with this definition. The executive order came after a federal judge invalidated the 2024 regulations. According to the announcement, the 2020 rules have been enforced since January, but the most recent action formally vacates the Biden Administration’s framework from the Code of Federal Regulations.
Along with the U.S. Department of Justice, the ED created a Title IX Special Investigations Team in April 2025, a team of expert attorneys and investigators whose job is to ensure the enforcement of the 2020 rules. Over the past two years, the ED launched a large number of Title IX investigations into educational institutions such as the Los Angeles Unified School District and the California Community College Athletic Association, for “reportedly failing to respond appropriately to allegations of sexual assault and harassment,” the press release stated.
So far, the Trump Administration has reached agreements with some colleges across the country to separate sports and facilities by sex.
“Thanks to today’s action, the published Title IX regulations faithfully reflects court orders and Congressional intent — reducing confusion for parents, students and educational institutions,” McMahon said in the press release.
Mariam Farag is a 2026-27 Managing Editor. She can be reached at manager@newuniversity.org.
