In the 1990s, the federal government made explicit that Title IX's prohibition on sex discrimination covers sexual harassment, including sexual assault, because such misconduct impairs equal educational access. That tracked our evolving understanding of the various ways in which sex discrimination harms people, but it also set the stage for future controversy. In 2011, the Department of Education, along with the work of student activists, put a spotlight on sexual harassment and sexual assault, and colleges and universities were explicitly warned that if they did not investigate and adjudicate cases of sexual harassment or sexual assault appropriately, they may be violating Title IX, putting their federal funding at risk.