Fighting Back Against Misuse of Title IX at the University of Cincinnati
By Brian Calfano
A handful of comments from students in a television performance class I created at the University of Cincinnati became the pretext for administrators to launch a Title IX investigation against me. These students resisted the professional standards I set for producing a weekly newscast—the first of its kind in the Department of Journalism. Their complaints provided the opening for a college administrator and a former subordinate, both with personal grievances against me, to push the Title IX Office into action.
For context, Title IX governs sexual harassment in higher education, defined as:
- Conditioning university benefits on participation in unwelcome sexual conduct
- Severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive conduct that denies equal access to education
- Sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, or stalking
The allegations against me included: adjusting a microphone (with permission), brushing hair off a shoulder (with permission), texting about assignments, mentoring students outside class, inviting students to a professional screening, requiring professional dress on camera, and commenting on students’ professional headshots. One false claim alleged I aimed a camera at a student’s legs, disproven by video evidence. Importantly, no student ever filed a complaint.
Despite this, the university pursued a Title IX case. Yet I was allowed to continue teaching the same class—with no restrictions or changes—even while the investigation was ongoing. If the allegations had truly raised concern, why would the university permit me to keep teaching without modification?
Realizing the process was less about facts and more about internal politics, I chose to leave UC voluntarily for a career opportunity in television news before a hearing I believed was rigged against me. I was neither fired nor sanctioned.
This was, in my view, a deliberate attempt to damage my career and a troubling example of how Title IX can be misused by university administrators as a weapon rather than a safeguard.
👉 Read the full story here: https://brianrcalfano.com/
Author Brian Calfano
In addition to his academic and journalistic work, Brian has authored several books and dozens of peer-reviewed journal articles. His writings cover media effects, religion and politics, and government responses to marginalized groups. Alongside U.S. Political Reporting, he works on TV Politics (Peter Lang), Rethinking & Saving Local TV News (Palgrave Macmillan), and other projects.
On the Personal Side
He supports charitable organizations such as the ASPCA and Doctors Without Borders. Born in New Jersey, he attended the University of North Texas and is an ordained deacon in the Presbyterian Church (USA). Brian Calfano continues to make significant contributions to journalism, academia, and documentary filmmaking, leaving a lasting impact on his fields of expertise.
To learn more, visit:
Read Brian’s latest article – The Title IX Vendetta
https://www.latakoo.com/news/92-of-j-school-students-cant-be-wrong
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