TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY, Texas (KBTX) – The Texas A&M University System is working to separate fact from fiction after two articles they say inaccurately reflected their stance on recent Title IX changes were published, according to university officials.
The articles, from Texas Scorecard and KTRH, both claim the university system planned to implement changes to Title IX guidelines from the Department of Education. On Tuesday, Chancellor John Sharp spoke in front of the state senate subcommittee on higher education, addressing the inaccurate claims made in those articles.
Governor Greg Abbott shared the KTRH article to his personal X account Monday after the university system publicly stated they would not be enforcing the changes.
The U.S. Department of Education released the updated Title IX rules on April 19. The new regulations address three key areas, according to their website: ‘protecting against all sex-based harassment and discrimination, promoting accountability and fairness and empowering and supporting students and families.’ The regulations cover a variety of areas, clarifies certain definitions, lays out procedures for sex discrimination complaints, and features more gender-inclusive language.
On April 29, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton sued the Department of Education in an attempt to block these new guidelines from taking effect. The Title IX changes won’t be active until Aug. 1.
Just last week, Texas Scorecard published an article claiming the university system is ‘scrambling’ to be in compliance with the Title IX changes after an interview with Director of Title IX and Student Conduct Compliance Rick Olshak. The next day, the Texas A&M University System directed its leadership to ‘stand down’ on implementing any Title IX-related changes.
An article from the Bryan College Station Eagle was published shortly after this direction was given, relaying the university system’s plans to wait for a ruling in Paxton’s lawsuit before making any changes.
On May 8, one day after, Governor Abbott sent a letter to Texas universities, ordering them to ignore the rewrites to Title IX. The Texas A&M University System reached this decision internally the day before.
Around a week later, Olshak provided an affidavit in support of the Attorney General’s lawsuit, which is attached at the bottom of the article. That same day is when Governor Abbott shared the KTRH article.
Tuesday the Texas A&M University System released a public statement reiterating their decision not to enforce the new Title IX rules until a ruling is made.
University officials said they have reached out to Texas Scorecard to correct their story. At the time of publishing, that story has not been corrected.
You can read the documents from the Texas A&M University System below.
Texas A&M documents by KBTX on Scribd
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