# Office for Civil Rights *Civil rights enforcement office of the U.S. Department of Education; the Department of Health and Human Services has its own Office for Civil Rights* The **Office for Civil Rights** (OCR) is the civil rights enforcement office of the [[U.S. Department of Education]]. It enforces federal laws that bar discrimination by schools on grounds including race, color, national origin, sex, disability and age.[^1] The Department's OCR homepage is its federal [[Title IX]] enforcement page, and complaints enter through an online portal.[^2][^3] The Department of Health and Human Services has its own Office for Civil Rights, which carries federal [[Title VI]] enforcement for HHS-funded programs.[^4] In Minnesota, the Education Department's OCR made an agency finding in Case No. 05-10-1146. The finding concerned Somali students at two [[St. Cloud]] high schools. The matter closed with a Resolution Agreement executed October 31, 2011, entered without admission of violation.[^5][^6] The HHS office's stated role is Title VI enforcement in HHS-funded programs.[^4] Against that role, the project's at-issue record states that no HHS Office for Civil Rights action appears in the public record regarding the [[Hennepin Healthcare]] sedation studies. It also finds no Department of Justice action and no [[Hennepin County Attorney]] action there.[^7] ## Mission Wikipedia counts OCR among the largest federal civil rights agencies. It puts the staff at roughly 560 attorneys, investigators and other employees, working from a Washington, D.C. headquarters and twelve regional offices.[^8] The same summary reports that the office lost nearly half its staff in the Trump administration's layoffs. It gives no date for either the staffing figure or the layoffs.[^1] OCR enforces these statutes against schools that are public entities or that receive federal education funds:[^8] - Title VI of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] (34 C.F.R. 100, 101) - Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 (34 C.F.R. 106) - Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (28 C.F.R. 35) - Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (34 C.F.R. 104, 105) - The Boy Scouts of America Equal Access Act (34 C.F.R. 108) - The Age Discrimination Act of 1975 (34 C.F.R. 110) Under Wikipedia's account, Title VI bars race, ethnicity and national-origin discrimination at federally funded post-secondary institutions. Religion is not a protected characteristic under Title VI, although some religious-discrimination cases also involve racial or ethnic discrimination.[^8] A school district may violate these laws in cases of peer harassment based on race, color, national origin, sex or disability. That happens when the harassment is serious enough to create a hostile environment and school employees encourage, tolerate, ignore or fail to adequately address it.[^8] For Title IX, the Department maintains three resources: - an OCR enforcement homepage;[^2] - athletics policy guidance setting out the three-prong test under §106.41(c);[^9] - a complaint portal for intake.[^3] ## Leadership OCR is headed by the Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights, who also acts as the Secretary of Education's principal adviser on civil rights.[^10] Former Assistant Secretaries include:[^10] - [[Clarence Thomas]] (1981–1982) - Norma V. Cantu (1993–2001) - Gerald A. Reynolds (2002–2003) - Catherine E. Lhamon (August 2013–January 2017, and again November 2021–January 2025) - Kenneth L. Marcus (August 2018–July 2020) - Kimberly Richey (acting, August 2020–November 2021) Craig Trainor is listed as acting head in 2025.[^10] ## Guidance to educational institutions OCR publishes what it terms technical guidance, telling K-12 schools and colleges how to meet their obligations under the laws it enforces.[^11] In 2001 it read Title IX obligations to cover preventing and punishing sexual harassment on campus.[^11] Under the Obama administration, OCR issued eight Dear Colleague letters confined to Title VI subjects. Their topics included:[^11] - voluntary consideration of race to avoid racial isolation in schools; - immigration and citizenship status in enrollment; - school discipline; - English Learner participation. It issued seven further letters on Title IX subjects.[^11] Its Title IX guidance from that period includes:[^11] - the April 4, 2011 Dear Colleague letter on sexual harassment and sexual violence; - questions and answers on Title IX and sexual violence, issued April 29, 2014; - a May 13, 2016 letter on transgender students, issued jointly with the Department of Justice. Gail Heriot, a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, co-authored a criticism of the school discipline letter. It called the letter bad policy and beyond the scope of OCR's powers.[^11] ## Civil Rights Data Collection OCR runs the Civil Rights Data Collection, gathered every two years from all public schools in the country. It covers indicators of access to, and barriers to, educational opportunity from early childhood through grade 12.[^12] Collection began in 1968, and the survey was previously named the Elementary and Secondary School Survey.[^12] ## Sexual violence investigations On May 1, 2014, OCR published a list of higher education institutions with open Title IX sexual violence investigations. It was the first time the federal government had announced such investigations. By March 16, 2015, nearly 100 colleges and universities were under investigation.[^13] Lhamon suggested that "increased transparency will spur community dialogue about this important issue." She added that a school's appearance on the list "in no way indicates at this stage that the college or university is violating or has violated the law."[^13] Wikipedia attributes the release to pressure from the White House Task Force to Protect Students from Sexual Assault and from campus anti-rape activists. The list drew criticism from both sides:[^13] - a complainant warned that announcements could expose survivors to retaliation; - FIRE argued that the list and the earlier Dear Colleague letter violated due process. ## Shared Ancestry investigations Title VI covers discrimination based on shared ancestry, including antisemitism and Islamophobia.[^14] Wikipedia reports that the Department opened 31 new investigations into such complaints from October 2023.[^14] In November 2023 it named schools under investigation, including:[^14] - Lafayette College - Cornell University - Columbia University - Wellesley College - the University of Pennsylvania - The Cooper Union - Kansas's Maize Unified School District In May 2024, OCR opened an investigation into Emory University. The underlying complaint, filed April 5, alleged discrimination against students of Palestinian, Muslim or Arab ancestry.[^14] ## In the at-issue record At-issue entry AI-075 ([[At issue 075 - No Department of Justice action, no HHS Office]]) concerns the Hennepin Healthcare sedation studies.[^7] It states that no Department of Justice action, no HHS Office for Civil Rights action and no Hennepin County Attorney action appears in the public record about those studies. It records the federal enforcement as two [[warning letters]] and the county's as nothing located.[^7] The entry's stated source is a project validation report drawing on fda.gov. Its anchor is the March 2025 presidential action *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos*.[^7] HHS OCR describes its own role as Title VI enforcement for HHS-funded programs.[^4] The record shows the absence of action; it does not establish why none appears. ## In the Minnesota record ### Who The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights handled Case No. 05-10-1146. Its finding concerns Somali students at two St. Cloud high schools.[^5] ### What Under the preponderance standard, the Department found that the students "were subjected to negative comments and physical intimidation, based on their race and national origin."[^5] The Resolution Agreement was entered without admission of violation. It required:[^6] - anti-harassment statements; - policy revision; - training; - student forums; - annual climate surveys; - annual compliance reporting. ### When The Resolution Agreement was executed October 31, 2011.[^6] ### Where The finding concerns two high schools in St. Cloud, Minnesota.[^5] ### How The matter proceeded from an agency finding to a negotiated Resolution Agreement. The agreement imposed training, survey and reporting obligations, and the recipient admitted no violation.[^5][^6] ## Notes [^1]: Wikipedia contributors, *Office for Civil Rights*, lead section (rev. 1380698697, retrieved 2026-10-26) — OCR's place in the Education Department, its enforcement focus, and the reported staff loss. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_for_Civil_Rights [^2]: U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, *Office for Civil Rights* homepage (undated) — federal Title IX enforcement homepage. https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/index.html [^3]: U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, *Complaint Process* (undated) — the OCR complaint intake portal. https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/complaintintro.html [^4]: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office for Civil Rights, *HHS Office for Civil Rights* homepage (undated) — federal Title VI enforcement for HHS-funded programs. https://www.hhs.gov/ocr/ [^5]: U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, *Case No. 05-10-1146* finding (undated in pack) — finding under the preponderance standard concerning Somali students at two St. Cloud high schools. https://www.ed.gov/media/document/05101146-apdf-90222.pdf [^6]: U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, *Case No. 05-10-1146 Resolution Agreement* (October 31, 2011) — agreement entered without admission of violation, and its terms. https://www.ed.gov/sites/ed/files/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/investigations/more/05101146-b.pdf [^7]: The White House, *Stopping Waste, Fraud, and Abuse by Eliminating Information Silos* (March 2025) — anchor URL of at-issue entry AI-075. The entry's statement of absence rests on the project's validation report, not on this document. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/stopping-waste-fraud-and-abuse-by-eliminating-information-silos/ [^8]: Wikipedia contributors, *Office for Civil Rights*, "Mission" section (rev. 1380698697, retrieved 2026-10-26) — staff, offices, statutes enforced, Title VI scope and the harassment standard. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_for_Civil_Rights [^9]: U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, *Athletics Policy Clarification* (undated in pack) — the three-prong test under §106.41(c). https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/docs/clarific.html [^10]: Wikipedia contributors, *Office for Civil Rights*, "Leadership" section (rev. 1380698697, retrieved 2026-10-26) — the Assistant Secretary's role and the list of former Assistant Secretaries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_for_Civil_Rights [^11]: Wikipedia contributors, *Office for Civil Rights*, "Guidance to educational institutions" section (rev. 1380698697, retrieved 2026-10-26) — technical guidance, the 2001 Title IX reading, the Dear Colleague letters and criticism of them. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_for_Civil_Rights [^12]: Wikipedia contributors, *Office for Civil Rights*, "Civil Rights Data Collection" section (rev. 1380698697, retrieved 2026-10-26) — CRDC scope, frequency, 1968 start and former name. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_for_Civil_Rights [^13]: Wikipedia contributors, *Office for Civil Rights*, "Sexual violence investigations" section (rev. 1380698697, retrieved 2026-10-26) — the May 1, 2014 list, the March 16, 2015 count, Lhamon's statements and critics' views. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_for_Civil_Rights [^14]: Wikipedia contributors, *Office for Civil Rights*, "Shared Ancestry investigations" section (rev. 1380698697, retrieved 2026-10-26) — 31 investigations from October 2023, the November 2023 list and the May 2024 Emory investigation. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_for_Civil_Rights