Dear John,

Today is the day we’ve been dreading for years.

Betsy DeVos and the Trump Administration’s new Title IX rule has officially gone into effect. And just as we expected, DeVos’ Department of Education have been working with men’s rights activists all along to carry out their anti-survivor agenda. As an article in the Nation revealed earlier today, the Department’s Title IX rule takes a page right out of fringe “Men’s Rights Activist’s” playbooks. It’s no wonder that the rule favors respondents when the Department that authored it took cues directly from “Men’s Rights Activists” fighting for accused students. Meanwhile, DeVos refused to meet with student survivors and their advocates.

Starting today, schools across the country must conform to DeVos’ anti-survivor regulations. Students will not only be forced to go to a school during a pandemic, they must also face the rollback of their rights.

For years, student survivors have built a powerful movement, we’ve fought back against the Department of Education, and continued to build towards a world where everyone can go to school without fear of violence. And we are not stopping now.

Throughout the summer, we have petitioned and pushed schools to implement the best possible policies to protect their students–and we’ve won major victories. But we’re just getting started.  

Today, we’re taking our fight to the states! And we are looking for students to join us.

Over the next year we will be expanding our organizing network, training more students than ever before, and working to pass proactive policies to protect survivors in light of the new rule. These policies can prevent students from enduring ongoing and worsening harassment, require schools to investigate all instances of violence that impact student’s access to education, and afford students the resources they need to stay in school.

Sign up to pass proactive policies in your state. There’s two ways you can get involved:

1. Apply to be a Know Your IX State Ambassador here: We're looking for passionate and driven students with policy or organizing experience to act as Know Your IX State Ambassadors - point-people who, with the help of the Know Your IX team, will be responsible for organizing student activists in their state to move legislation that protects survivors. This volunteer position is a fantastic opportunity for anyone looking to deepen their policy and leadership skills while working in coalition with local activists

2. Join our Campus Action Network (IX-CAN) here: IX-CAN is an online group for students by students to connect with activists across the country to discuss organizing strategies, policy ideas, and critical legislation to end gender-based violence and discrimination in schools. IX-CAN Organizers will work on their campus and in their state to fight for robust protections for student survivors.

Want to learn more about how to take action at your school or in your state? Join us at 3pm EST for an instagram live with survivor activist discussing how you can organize for survivors’ rights.

As we’ve seen time and time again during the Trump Administration, the state & local level is our best shot at fighting back. Your state and your school can still pass policies that protect survivors and make our schools safer, but only if there’s serious pressure on them to do so. Only if YOU pressure them to do so.

We can’t do it without you.

In Solidarity,

Sage Carson
Manager of Know Your IX, a Project of Advocates for Youth

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