By Daniel Clarke
Senior Reporter
(TEANECK) – On March 8, students gathered in front of the SUB to make signs to display before marching across campus in support of Title IX. At 4:30 p.m. the group. with students and representatives from over twelve organizations, began their march.
“No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance,” Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 reads.
Gaining the attention of passerby’s, the crowd of students that marched across campus chanted “Struggle is up, oppression is real,” “Women’s rights are human rights” and “Know your nine, I know mine.”
While not everyone knew what Title IX was about before joining the march, it became a topic of discussion throughout the event. Students discussed the history and implications of the title, many leaving the event knowing more than when they came.
Informational leaflets were passed out before and during the march listing a few important rights granted by the title and directing people to the “Know Your IX” campaign website.
Rayven Moody, the adviser of Omega Phi Chi Multicultural Sorority (OPC), was one of the event facilitators and answered some questions about the event.
“We are in a political climate right now where things like women’s rights aren’t exactly a priority or they’re being overlooked,” Moody said.
“It’s important for us to do something like this, to unite women. We don’t really have many issues at FDU where people feel discriminated against—we have things here and there that you hear about happening but it’s not really a type of conversation at FDU,” Moody said. “At other institutions this is a really big issue and all around the world it’s a really big problem that women’s rights aren’t being valued. That’s really why we all came on board to make this happen.”
The amendment has evolved over time extending beyond discrimination to a broader scope including sexual harassment and violence, according to Know Your IX, a website dedicated to making the rights under Title IX known, supporting victims, and empowering students to stop sexual violence.
According to the site, approximately 1 in 5 women and 1 in 25 men will be sexually assaulted during their time at college, and 90 percent of these cases are committed by perpetrators that the survivor knows. Still, only 12 percent of college student survivors choose to report the assault. Title IX requires schools to remedy hostile environments, but this can only happen if they’re being reported.
“I feel like FDU is doing its due diligence in regards to Title IX. As we all know, we’re one of the safest campuses around—we wouldn’t just get that title if it wasn’t for the hard work of our administrators. It’s not a heavy topic of conversation here because they do that and they made it this way for us,” Moody said, “At FDU, people can question, ‘Do we need something like this?,’ but I feel like we need it in general because it’s not just about FDU, it’s about women in general, it’s about people in general, it’s about students, it’s about our rights as a whole.”
