Potter Law

I write a newsletter about what actually happens inside college and university processes. Title IX. Title VI. Section 504. Student conduct. Academic integrity. These systems can be hard to understand from the outside. They are often even harder to understand once a student is already in the middle of a case. The newsletter is free. New posts go straight to your inbox. https://lnkd.in/epEdGMSM

Women’s History Month, Week 4: recognizing the women doing the daily work that helps student rights protections function on campuses. This month I posted about women who helped build the legal framework behind campus civil rights, including Title IX, Section 504, and Title VI. This final post is about many of the women carrying that work out now. Much of that work happens behind the scenes. It includes investigations, accommodations, supportive measures, policy questions, training, reporting, and difficult judgment calls that affect students in real ways. The framework matters, but so do the people applying it fairly and consistently. Many of those professionals are women, and their work often goes publicly unrecognized. #WomensHistoryMonth #TitleIX #Section504 #TitleVI #HigherEd #EducationLaw

This piece reflects on Pat Summitt and a principle that also matters in higher education: students and families need people who show up, understand the process, and help make systems work the way they are supposed to.

Women’s History Month: March Madness, Title IX, and what equity actually looks like. During this year's March Madness, for the first time, women’s basketball teams will earn performance-based tournament payments — a structure men’s teams have had for decades. This didn’t happen by accident. It came after years of documented inequities: the 2021 viral video of the women’s weight room compared to the men’s, an independent NCAA gender equity review that confirmed disparities in spending, marketing, and facilities across ten women’s sports, and sustained pressure from athletes, advocates, and the public. Title IX made this possible. It’s the same 37 words Bernice Sandler fought for in 1972. But as anyone who works in education equity knows: having the law on the books is only the beginning. Enforcement is what makes it real. For institutions: this is a good week to audit your own athletics equity practices. Title IX compliance in athletics isn’t just about roster numbers: it’s facilities, travel, scholarships, coaching compensation, and media access. #WomensHistoryMonth #MarchMadness #TitleIX #GenderEquity #HigherEd

Potter Law has launched a new newsletter, The Practical College Guide. The newsletter covers college student conduct, Title IX, disability accommodations, grievance procedures, academic integrity, and related student rights issues. Its purpose is simple: to give families and students clearer, practical information before they find themselves in the middle of a problem with a short deadline. We also hope it will be a useful resource for higher education professionals who want to better understand how students and families experience these systems. You can read and subscribe here: https://lnkd.in/dcVFDj88

Women’s History Month: Title IX was built by women who documented discrimination and forced institutions to answer for it. Bernice Sandler filed 250 complaints against colleges and universities, building the record. Edith Green held the hearings. Patsy Mink helped write the law. That history still matters. In Title IX work today, documented complaints and careful fact development still matter because the record is often what drives accountability. #WomensHistoryMonth #TitleIX #EducationLaw #HigherEd #CivilRights

Women’s History Month: The women who built disability civil rights in education. In 1977, the federal government had signed Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act but refused to enforce it. Judith Heumann and Kitty Cone led over 100 disabled activists in a 28-day occupation of a federal building in San Francisco — the longest sit-in at a federal building in U.S. history. The leadership was primarily women, including LGBTQ+ women. The Black Panther Party provided daily meals. Activists from across the disability, civil rights, and labor movements showed up in coalition. They won. Secretary Califano signed the 504 regulations on April 28, 1977. Those regulations are the reason your institution has a 504 compliance office today. Heumann went on to serve in the Clinton and Obama administrations and was named one of TIME’s 100 Women of the Year. She passed away on March 4, 2023. Cone, the chief organizer and political strategist behind the sit-in, passed away in 2015. For those of us who work in education law and civil rights compliance: these women built the legal infrastructure we work within every day. This month is a good time to remember that. #WomensHistoryMonth #Section504 #DisabilityRights #HigherEd #EducationLaw

Black History Month: Student Leadership in Education Last week we honored the students who helped shape the Civil Rights Movement. This week, we're looking at how that legacy lives on in the actions of students today. Darryl George, a Texas high school student, challenged the enforcement of a grooming policy after being disciplined for wearing locs. His case raised important questions about how school dress codes can disproportionately impact Black students. Mari Copeny began advocating as a child for safe water and resources in Flint, Michigan, drawing national attention to conditions affecting students and schools in her community. Payton Head, as student body president at the University of Missouri, spoke publicly about student safety and campus climate concerns, helping spark a broader conversation about how institutions respond when students raise their voices. The Civil Rights Movement didn't end in the 1960s. Students continue to lead, and their willingness to speak up about the conditions they face in schools and on campuses carries forward a long tradition of student activism. #BlackHistoryMonth #StudentLeadership #StudentRights #EducationEquity #BlackHistory

Black Student Leadership in the Civil Rights Movement This Black History Month, we honor the students who put everything on the line to challenge segregation and inequality in education. At just 16, Barbara Johns organized a student strike at R.R. Moton High School in 1951 to protest the deplorable conditions of her segregated school. That strike became part of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case. Read more about Barbara Johns here: https://lnkd.in/dqQ7xR3Z In 1960, Diane Nash, a student at Fisk University, became a co-founder of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and a driving force behind the Nashville sit-in movement and Freedom Rides. Read more about Diane Nash here: https://lnkd.in/dpZP7iPT Also in 1960, the Greensboro Four, Ezell Blair Jr. (now Jibreel Khazan), Franklin McCain, Joseph McNeil, and David Richmond, staged their historic sit-in at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, sparking a wave of sit-ins across the South. Watch a short piece on the Greensboro Four here: https://lnkd.in/dUvYAdzC These students did not wait for permission to lead. Their courage helped shape the Civil Rights Movement and laid the groundwork for protections like Title VI of the Civil Rights Act, which prohibits discrimination in federally funded programs, including schools. Students were at the forefront of the Civil Rights Movement, and that history deserves to be remembered and taught. #BlackHistoryMonth #StudentLeadership #CivilRights #EducationEquity #TitleVI

K-12 Dive reports that the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights entered into no K-12 Title IX resolution agreements for sexual harassment and assault complaints in 2025. Nancy Potter was quoted in the article alongside friend and former OCR Regional Director Beth Gellman-Beer of Evergreen Education Solutions, LLC, among other civil rights experts. This is an historic low in a major civil rights enforcement category. As Nancy told the reporter, “It’s such a sharp drop, it’s essentially a zero in a category.” What is concerning is not only a reduced focus on protecting people who report sexual harassment and assault, but also a broader erosion of fair process. Both matter. Complainants need meaningful access to education. Respondents deserve due process. For schools, counsel, and Title IX coordinators, there are two concrete steps we encourage: 1. Keep requesting OCR guidance and technical assistance in writing. Build the record. 2. Do not stop strengthening local practice: clear timelines, preserved records, prompt interim measures, and fair procedures for both parties. #TitleIX #K12 #HigherEd #EducationLaw https://lnkd.in/euFiKKxN