Department of Education launches another Title IX investigation against University

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights has launched another Title IX probe against the University, confirmed Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations, in a Durham Herald Sun article Friday.

“We have just received the notice,” Schoenfeld told the Durham Herald Sun, adding that the University will provide any requested data to the OCR.

According to the Chronicle of Higher Education's database of Title IX complaints, the Office for Civil Rights began investigating this new complaint Aug. 11. This marks the second Title IX probe opened against the University within a year and the second ongoing investigation, as The Chronicle previously reported that the OCR began investigating in November 2015 an earlier Title IX complaint that had been filed by a Duke student. 

The first Title IX investigation Duke faced was opened by the OCR in March 2013 and resolved that July.

Earlier this month, a former Duke student filed a Title IX lawsuit against the University for allegedly mishandling a “drug-facilitated rape” by two students, one of whom is the stepson of former Provost Peter Lange.

The OCR only releases the names of students who file complaints at the end of its investigations, so it is unclear whether the lawsuit and either of the two OCR investigations against Duke are connected. Bob Ekstrand, attorney for the plaintiff in the recent lawsuit, did not confirm to the Durham Herald Sun whether his client was involved with the new OCR action.