While the Trump administration has largely targeted its ire at elite, big-name universities like Harvard and Columbia, that may not be the case anymore.

Last week, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported that the administration is broadening its scope of higher-ed scrutiny, pointing to a Title IX investigation into Western Carolina University as a prominent example. A conservative outlet wrote recently that the university had declined to update its Title IX policy after President Trump issued an executive order saying the federal government would recognize two sexes. WCU had previously drawn attention after a student posted a video that went viral of a transgender woman in a campus bathroom.

A spokesperson for the Department of Education said its actions have “made it clear that it prioritizes all students’ civil rights, regardless of the ‘brand name’ of their university.” WCU told the Chronicle that it believes it’s complying with Title IX and other laws.


—Erin Gretzinger […]

Matt Hartman is a higher education reporter for The Assembly and co-anchor of our weekly higher education newsletter, The Quad. He was previously a longtime freelance journalist and spent nearly a decade working in higher ed communications before joining The Assembly in 2024.

Erin Gretzinger is a former higher education reporter at The Assembly and co-anchor of our weekly higher education newsletter, The Quad. She was previously a reporting fellow at The Chronicle of Higher Education and is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin at Madison.