IX

As a college professor, I care deeply about my students. As a survivor of sexual violence, I want to live in a world in which unwanted acts that can be qualified as sexual assault and sexual harrassment don’t happen — to anyone. Over the past few years, I’ve been surprised to see Title IX, arguably one of the most important civil rights laws of the 20th century, become so polarized in the news. What happened? Is America as divided as the hyperpolarized news cycle would have us believe? Or is there hope for a law that is supposed to be about balancing the rights of all students so that no one can be deprived of access to education due to discrimination on the basis of sex?
In early 2021, I set out to learn the truth about Title IX: where we’ve come from, where we are now, and where we’re headed. Surely there had to be more to this than political differences. Couldn’t we stop fighting each other and fight the problem? Together? It’s what I found out when I really dug into my research that surprised me.
For the first half of 2021, I constructed a comprehensive research bibliography and read every law journal document I could get my hands on. I tracked news cycles across time. I even read bills and copies of the Congressional Record, and every single Title IX regulation, rule, or guidelines document published by the Department of Education since 1975. What emerged was a complex story of a law that had morphed and grown over the years from ensuring that women couldn’t be excluded from higher education simply because they were women, to (very quickly) covering sexual harrassment, and later, sexual violence. Regulation was only part of the picture. A complex history of court cases established legal precedent and informed how Title IX was enforced by the courts. This was a living, breathing law and its story was fascinating.
Initially, I set out to tell that story and talk with experts on the front lines, to help the general public understand what they were hearing about in the news. Knowledge is power: it’s hard to manipulate viewers who know something about the topic. I believed there was a way forward to help us create a better system on campus: one that supports complainants (mostly women) who come forward, while simultaneously balancing the rights of students (mostly men) who were accused. There is no war on women on America’s campuses; there is no war on men, either. Although those kinds of sensational headlines get the clicks. What’s happening is that we’re witnessing the most widespread, systemic failure in policy- and rule-making in recent history — and nobody really understands what’s going on. I lined up interviews with attorneys, Title IX officers, investigators and others on the frontlines. Inspired by Ava Duvernay’s 13th, that was the kind of story I set out to tell… and then I met the students.
The first day I set foot on set in Portland OR in September 2021, I saw an opportunity in the midst of adversity. It was the tail-end of the pandemic, but COVID-19 was still very much a reality and Portland was slowly putting one foot in front of the other after the racial protests that had shaken America. Originally, we intended to interview people on the street wherever we traveled, but Portland was a ghost town only just beginning to come back to life. So we pivoted and decided to reach out to interview some students in an effort to find out what they knew about Title IX. After all, it affected them the most. These students were randomly selected via open casting-call and, in order to make sure no one self-selected because the issue of sexual assault was significant and personal to them (e.g., so as to avoid confirmation bias). Participants were not briefed about the topic before they arrived on set, at which point, they were given time to think over whether they wanted to participate or not. We planned on meeting them outside of Powell’s Books on the street. But setting up for our first expert interview the day before, I couldn’t help but feel we were missing an opportunity.
The set we had picked was a loft over by the train tracks on the outskirts of town, and we could flip it so as to get a completely different shot. There were a few couches and chairs available for our use. I couldn’t help but wonder, if we hosted the four students who had volunteered to come and speak with us together, what would happen? Would four strangers, all currently or recently enrolled in school and with very different experiences and backstories, be willing to have an honest conversation with me, on the record, about dating, sexual assault, and Title IX? I followed my gut and decided to give it a go. Looking back, I realize this decision was informed not only by my gut as a filmmaker, but as a college professor who has been teaching undergraduates since I was 22, right after I graduated myself. There’s a special magic that happens when young people get together and thoughtfully work through a problem. I’ve had the privilege of witnessing it first-hand for years in the classroom. What if we could catch that on film? Could it help us — and America — find our way through some of the complex issues we were facing in this project? Could it personalize the issue to spend time up close and personal with the people who are most affected by Title IX? And just like that, everything changed.
Out of four randomly selected students, two — one young man, one young woman — identified as survivors and agreed to share their stories. The other students reflected on how little they knew about the Title IX system on their campus and their needs for education about consent. It was the most honest, raw conversation we could have hoped for. And it inspired us to do more of just that. Sure, we’d continue interviewing experts around the country and explore key issues about Title IX, regulation, and enforcement, but the backbone of the film — our emotional heartbeat — would become what we now refer to as the impromptu, reality-TV or talk-show inspired small group or “cohort” conversations.
Everywhere we traveled, we issued an open casting call. The crew (myself included) knew nothing about the students until they showed up on set. Most of the time, we never knew how many would show until they arrived — and even if they’d show up at all. But show up, they did. Everywhere we traveled, survivors came forward. Everywhere we traveled, students also shared stories of friends who didn’t receive a fair hearing. What we began documenting were real-life conversations and debates unfolding in real-time, as America’s youth grappled with one of the most serious issues that affects them: sexual assault on campus.
By following that thread in Portland OR as we turned the cameras on, I embarked with my crew on a 1-year journey leading up to the 50th anniversary of Title IX across nine states: from NYC to Los Angeles, Detroit to Auburn AL, Austin TX to Spartanburg SC, and Washington DC to Atlanta GA. We hosted the largest conversation in history about dating, sexual assault, and Title IX. We spoke to Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Libertarians, from members of the Federalist Society to Civic Nation’s ItsOnUs and other groups working with the current White House. It turned out America is not as polarized as the news would have us believe. Everywhere we traveled, people agreed that the current system is failing everyone. But there’s hope. By working together, and rising above partisan politics, we can do what it takes to build a better, more inclusive tomorrow. What we need are real conversations, like the ones we caught on camera, where people from different backgrounds and different political beliefs come together to listen, learn, and figure out a solution through thoughtful conversation (or “civil discourse”). As a country, we’re tired of polarization. We’re tired of sensational news cycles. What this film models is another way forward.
As we enter the election year in 2024, new Title IX regulation has been delayed. Originally expected by March 2023, then summer, then fall, it has been postponed until March or April 2024. This now promises to be one of the most sensationalized news cycles of the election season. But underneath the political fray, what we must not lose sight of is the human aspect of the law. Students are not numbers. They’re human beings. And they deserve better. By sparking this conversation, led by the students themselves, we hope to activate and educate audiences, challenge policy-makers to stop playing political games, and ensure that campuses across the country become the safest spaces where all students, of all backgrounds, are safe to live and learn, free from discrimination on the basis of sex.