TITLE IX INACTION Two Louisiana universities rank lowest in suspension rates for Title IX issues

BY JADEN NGUYEN @jaydenguyen_

Two public Louisiana universities stand just 30 minutes apart, both with one major thing in common: having the lowest suspension and expulsion rates for sexual misconduct.

Louisiana Tech University and University of Monroe expelled or suspended the least number of students for sexual misconduct from 2014 to 2020 in a review of Title IX cases conducted by USA Today.

Both schools ranked last on USA Today’s compilation of data from 56 schools. Louisiana Tech suspended just two students under Title IX in seven years. ULM expelled one student.

The only other Louisiana public university on the list was LSU, which has been scrutinized for mishandling Title IX cases since USA Today’s investigative report into LSU Athletics and Title IX in November 2020.

Of its 33,760 students, LSU suspended 26 students and expelled three for sexual misconduct over the past seven years, the review found.

“I hate to say it, but I think that the Title IX issues in 2020 could’ve given Title IX attention at LSU, like more students know about it because of it and know where to file cases,” said LSU ju- nior Autumn Siharath. “Maybe these other schools, Tech and ULM, haven’t had big breakthrough cases like that so a lot of students don’t know about it.”

Any student can file a “power-based violence” report to