Matthew M. Swift

It's remarkable, but not very surprising, that the federal government is dropping its defense of the February 2025 Dear Colleague letter. As a practical matter, its enforcement actions have just relied on the underlying interpretation of Title VI instead. abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/t…

Far be it from me to try to predict exactly what the Court's decision will look like, but the oral arguments certainly leave room for a pretty narrow and technical decision, and the core legal disputes between the federal government and some blue states may not be resolved.

Interesting moment from SCOTUS arguments over restrictions on trans students in athletics: the federal government says they want a narrow ruling. They argue in other cases that Title IX prohibits trans student participation, but they don't want SCOTUS to decide that yet.

Robbins Schwartz been a great place to grow while doing meaningful work for our clients, and with the range of matters I handle with schools and colleges, there's never a dull moment! I'm grateful for all of the support along the way, and I'm very excited for this next stage.

In a major development in the lawsuit challenging the @usedgov 2/14 Dear Colleague Letter and the 4/3, Certification Requirement, the parties have reached an agreement that blocks the department from taking any enforcement action under either directive until at least 4/24/25 1/

Considering the new form that the Department set up to solicit concerns about DEI, it will be interesting to see when and how OCR resumes processing complaints related to protected categories other than disability. propublica.org/article/depart…

Department of Education civil rights enforcement remains...in flux. Despite some press releases (mostly investigations into transgender athlete participation under Title IX), OCR has not updated its public-facing list of investgations since January 14. ocrcas.ed.gov/open-investiga…

The DEI landscape has changed once again. In the past two weeks, a federal judge issued a preliminary injunction temporarily halting certain provisions of the Trump Administration’s executive orders related to DEI. Read more in our latest law alert: robbins-schwartz.com/news/firm-news… #rslaw

On February 14, 2025, the Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights (OCR), released a Dear Colleague letter to state and local educational institutions. The guidance and important implications are analyzed in our latest law alert: ow.ly/wcKu50V2pHA #rslaw

Speaking of that news cycle...case in point. nbcchicago.com/news/local/chi…

We can't cover everything (because let's face it, the news cycle is spinning faster than Sonic the Hedgehog), but we'll try to give folks some helpful background and leave plenty of time for questions. Looking forward to it!

Big news on immigration and gender here, including DHS directives intended to allow immigration enforcement at schools and colleges:

This is the first court decision to completely invalidate the 2024 Title IX rules nationwide (assuming it is not appealed and stayed/reversed). Props to CNN for including a link to the opinion: storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.usco… cnn.com/2025/01/09/pol…

The regulatory seesaw of Title IX rules may continue, but there won't be last-minute rules coming from the Biden administration specifically on transgender student-athletes. apnews.com/article/studen…

There is still time to register for our upcoming School Administrator's Conference on Wednesday, October 9th! Register here today: ow.ly/61Eb50Tnari

Important update! The Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights has issued its final Title IX regulations, which will go into effect on August 1, 2024. Read more about their guidance in our recent law alert: ow.ly/nHU650Rkfh6 #TitleIX #RSLaw

And this time there are *only* 1577 pages of rulemaking materials! Just a little light weekend reading...

Cook County school districts and park districts can breathe a sigh of relief...for now. Their exemption only lasts until January 1, 2025.

Robbins Schwartz is pleased to announce that our Chicago office has relocated! We look forward to serving you from our new Chicago location. #RSLaw