Officials are investigating whether the campuses violated Title IX, a portion of a 1972 law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in all education programs and activities that receive federal financial assistance. The law requires campuses to address sexual misconduct allegations. Schools can lose federal funding over Title IX violations, although none ever have.
Title IX prohibits any behavior that creates an inequitable learning environment, including verbal sexual harassment and sexting as well as violent physical crimes, such as sexual battery, assault and rape.
The Obama administration has cracked down on campus sexual assault with greater enforcement and high-profile guidance to schools on their legal obligations around the issue. Earlier this week, a White House task force released a blueprint for strengthening federal enforcement actions and providing additional tools to combat the problem, including a new website and funding for research on promising prevention programs.