For accused students, employees, and the people who love them
A notice is not a verdict.
Respondent is a clear, step-by-step guide for students, faculty, and staff named in a Title IX or campus notice — and for the people helping them. Start with what the letter means and what to do in the first forty-eight hours. It does not cheerlead or adjudicate. It shows what usually happens, what can go wrong, and what to take to counsel.
Browse free chapters Get the full book Six questions checklist
Mark the notice — six questions
Before you reply to the office, annotate a copy of the notice. The six questions are free on this site. A printable one-page checklist can be emailed when signup is available.
Who this is for
Students named in a notice
Holding actions for tonight: preserve the letter, do not contact anyone, do not post, and get counsel before any police interview.
Faculty & staffEmployees named in a notice
The same first forty-eight hours apply. The full book covers employee-specific stakes — leave, representation, and what can follow a finding.
Families & friendsPartners, parents, and friends
How to help without making it worse — including what not to say and what not to do on someone else’s behalf.
What the book covers
The notice and the first 48 hours
How to read the letter, what to preserve, what not to do, and when police contact changes the picture.
Full bookCounsel, investigation, hearing
Finding the right lawyer, how evidence windows work, interim measures, and what a hearing actually requires.
Full bookEmployees and students
Distinct stakes for faculty, staff, and students — leave, visas, transcripts, and what can follow a finding.
Free excerptFor everyone else
Guidance written to partners, parents, and friends who want to help without making it worse.
How this site treats the subject
False allegations exist; so do true ones. This guide is about process reliability, not about scoring a culture war. It uses the language of the process — complainant, respondent, notice, determination — and it works whether or not you did what is alleged.
Free chapters stop irreversible mistakes and show the book's competence. The paid book walks the long middle: investigation, evidence, findings, exit, litigation, and rebuilding.