John Doe I and John Doe II were both students at the University of Cincinnati (“UC”). In unrelated incidents in March 2014, each was charged with violating UC’s Code of Conduct for allegedly sexually assaulting female students. Following an investigation and hearing conducted by UC, both Doe I and Doe II were found “responsible” for the respective allegations against them. Doe I was suspended from UC for three years. Doe II received disciplinary probation and was required to write a research paper. Doe I and Doe II filed suit against UC and various school administrators (“the individual defendants”) under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, alleging that UC’s disciplinary process did not afford them due process as required by the Fourteenth Amendment. Doe I and Doe II also claimed that they were subject to gender discrimination in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The district court granted defendants’ motion to dismiss on all counts. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the judgment of the district court.
I.
A.
The University of Cincinnati is a public university located in Cincinnati, Ohio. On April 11, 2011, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights circulated a “Dear Colleague” letter to colleges and universities around the country in an effort to provide guidance on complying with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (“Title IX”), 20 U.S.C. §§ 1681-88, in the context of sexual-assault investigations. Specifically, the letter encouraged schools to adopt a preponder- *439 anee standard of proof, allow appeals for both parties, and “minimize the burden on the complainant” when investigating sexual-assault allegations. DE 1, Compl., Page ID 5.
In response to the “Dear Colleague” letter, UC adopted certain policies and procedures for investigating and adjudicating alleged Title IX violations. 1 Within seven days of receiving a complaint, a Title IX Coordinator meets with the respondent and provides notice of the allegations, a copy of UC’s Title IX policies, and information about investigation and disciplinary procedures. At this meeting, the respondent is provided an opportunity to give his or her account of the facts and discuss the nature of the allegations. Within fourteen days of the complaint being filed, the Coordinator begins interviewing witnesses and gathering relevant evidence. The respondent is also permitted to provide any relevant evidence or witnesses. Following this investigation, the Coordinator prepares an investigatory report summarizing his findings. The report is then provided to both the complainant and respondent for review and comment. The Coordinator incorporates comments from the parties and, if necessary, conducts a follow-up investigation. During the investigation, the complainant may be provided certain accommodations, including changes in homework, deadlines, grades, classes, and schedules. The respondent, however, may be subject to punitive “interim measures,” including restrictions on access to certain campus buildings. Id. at 10.
After this initial investigation, the respondent is entitled to an Administrative Review Committee (“ARC”) hearing prior to the imposition of any discipline. The ARC is a panel made up of UC administrators. Appellants allege that the ARC panel receives training on UC’s Code of Conduct and protecting sexual-misconduct victims but receives no comparable training on protecting the due-process rights of accused students.
At an ARC hearing, panel members function as a board- of inquiry and apply a preponderance-of-the-evidence standard in order to resolve the dispute. The respondent is permitted to have an attorney present at the hearing, but the attorney may not actively participate. Cross-examination is allowed, but only by submitting written questions to the panel members, who then determine whether questions are relevant and whether they will be posed to the witness. Neither party may compel witnesses to attend the ARC hearing, but hearsay evidence is allowed. Although parties are not permitted to record the ARC hearings, each party may access the panel’s recording of the hearing. Both parties have the right to appeal an adverse decision by the panel.
Between 2010 and the hearings for Doe I and Doe II, the ARC panel presided over nine cases involving sexual-misconduct allegations. The respondent was found “responsible” in each of the eight cases where the panel’s decision was disclosed. The punishment imposed in these cases ranged from disciplinary probation to expulsion.
B.
On March 9, 2014, Doe I—at that time a junior at UC’s Blue Ash campus—left a party near campus with Jane Roe I and Jane Roe II to accompany them back to their dorm room. Doe I claimed that both Roe I and Roe II were intoxicated. Roe I claimed that she went to sleep after returning to her dorm room but later awoke to Doe I attempting to have sexual inter *440 course with her. She alleged that she told Doe I “no” and left the room. Id. at 28. Doe I then allegedly attempted to also have sexual, intercourse with Roe II while she was sleeping. Doe I continues to deny both sexual-assault allegations.
To buttress his denial, Doe I claims that Roe I and Roe II gave several inconsistent statements to UC administrators and UC police officers regarding the incident. For example, Doe I alleges that Roe I gave inconsistent statements about whether she had smoked marijuana that night and whether she had, in fact, been asleep when Doe I got into bed with her. Likewise, Roe II allegedly gave inconsistent statements regarding her intoxication level on the night in question and whether she passed out before or after Doe I initiated intercourse with her.
Doe I also claims that he was fully cooperative with police investigators and that the police obtained significant evidence exonerating him, despite attempts by UC administrators to interfere with the police investigation. For example, Doe I challenges both Roe I’s contention that she was unaware how Doe I got into her dorm and Roe IPs claim that dormitory staff improperly let Doe I into the building by pointing to surveillance video showing that Roe I waited while Roe II signed Doe I into the dorm. Similarly, Doe I argues that neither Roe I nor Roe II appear intoxicated in the surveillance video despite Roe II’s statements to the ARC panel that she was too intoxicated to remember walking home. Doe I also points to forensic cellphone evidence showing that Roe I and Roe II sent text messages during the time they were allegedly parsed out, and later joked about the case. He also argues that another female student, who was allegedly present in the room when the assault occurred, denied witnessing anything illegal. Doe I also believes that the crime lab’s assessment of the rape kits was consistent with his theory of events.
Doe I claims that Daniel Cummins, UC’s Assistant Dean of Students and Director of the Office of Judicial Affairs, instituted disciplinary proceedings against him prior to investigating the credibility of the allegations. Doe I alleges that Cummins sent an initial letter explaining the charges on March 12, 2014, and later interviewed him in person on March 28. Doe I alleges that he denied the allegations at this meeting, but otherwise exercised his right to remain silent.
Doe I claims that Cummins scheduled an ARC hearing prior to interviewing any witnesses. Although the hearing was initially scheduled for April 10, 2014, it was later postponed until May 2, 2014. Prior to the hearing, Cummins completed an investigative report, which concluded that Doe I had engaged in sexual activity with Roe I and Roe II without their consent. Doe I claims that Cummins’s investigative report had several crucial omissions:
1. It did not include a review of the physical evidence obtained by UC Police.
2. It failed to include Doe I’s statements to UC Police.
'3. It excluded a witness’s statement that Roe I and Roe II had been “pretty flirtatious” with Doe I and had “basically dragged” him back to their dorm.
4. It did not include any of the physical evidence that tended to exonerate Doe I, such as the surveillance videos and text messages.
Id. at 33-34.
Doe I also claims that the initial ARC hearing on May 2, 2014, had numerous procedural deficiencies:
*441 1. UC did not respond to Doe I’s attorney’s request that the UC Police investigator be present at the hearing.
2. UC did not permit Doe I to introduce relevant evidence from the UC Police investigation, such as the rape-kit analysis, text messages, surveillance video, or police report.
3. Doe I was not allowed to impeach a witness, Roe I’s boyfriend, who lacked firsthand knowledge of the incident.
4. Doe I was not allowed to personally record the hearing.
5. The ARC hearing chair refused to ask witnesses relevant questions that Doe I submitted.
6. The ARC hearing chair refused to compel the attendance of UC police officers who investigated Doe I’s case.
7. The ARC panel refused to consider a binder of evidence Doe I submitted that allegedly supported his version of the events.
Doe I claims that these deficiencies led the ARC panel to find that Doe I had violated UC’s Code of Conduct with respect to Roe I’s fclaims. Doe I left the ARC hearing before the panel considered Roe II’s allegations because he determined he would not be afforded due process.
Doe I appealed the ARC panel’s findings. On appeal, UC determined that substantial procedural errors had occurred and granted Doe I a new hearing. The new hearing took place on May 18-19, 2015. Although Doe I concedes that his second hearing was not the same “kangaroo court[ ]” as before, he alleges it still lacked significant procedural protections:
1.The panel improperly considered Cummins’s allegedly biased investigative report.
2. The panel was not advised that Doe I was presumed innocent or that the complainants bore the burden of proof.
3. The panel refused to ask the complainants a number of written questions that Doe I submitted and that were intended to highlight inconsistencies in the complainants’ stories.
4. Doe I was not permitted to make his own recording of the hearing.
5. Doe I was given access to a university advisor at late notice, while the complainants received access to an advis- or at an earlier date.
6. The panel heard “impact statements” from the complainants prior to adjudicating Doe I’s responsibility.
7. Doe I was not provided advanced notice of the evidentiary rules that would be employed at the hearing.
8. UC failed to provide the panel with information regarding alleged academic accommodations that were provided to the complainants throughout the investigation, accommodations that Doe I claims may have affected their credibility.
Id. at 38-41.
On rehearing, the ARC panel found Doe I “responsible” for violating UC’s Code of Conduct with respect to Roe I, but “not responsible” with respect to Roe II. Id. at 41. Doe I claims that no explanation was given for the inconsistent decision. Doe I’s appeal—including his claim that the ARC panel erroneously allocated the burden of proof—was rejected by UC’s Appeal Administrator, Denine Rocco. In response to Doe I’s burden-of-proof argument, Rocco stated that, “Neither party has any burden of proof. Instead, the ARC [panel] uses the healing to investigate what happened and then makes a finding based on the preponderance of evidence.” Id. at 41-42. Rocco affirmed the ARC panel’s decision on July *442 23, 2015. As a result of the responsibility-finding, Doe I received a three-year suspension from UC. He has since transferred to another educational institution.
C.
In March 2014, John Doe II was a law student at UC. On March 6, 2014, Cum-mins received a report from Jane Roe III that she had been sexually assaulted by Doe II. Doe II claims that although Roe III did not report this matter to police, a police report was created at the behest of Cummins. Following her allegations, Roe III also allegedly received accommodations, including additional time to complete her graduate thesis. Like Doe I, Doe II claims that he was subject to various “interim measures,” including restricted access to certain campus buildings. Id. at 44.
Doe II elaims that Cummins first notified him of the charges on March 17, 2014, and that he had a formal, in-person meeting with Cummins to discuss the allegations on March 26, 2014. Following this meeting, Cummins completed an investigatory report, which allegedly misrepresented Doe II’s statements. Doe II claims that he was not given access to this report prior to his ARC hearing.
Doe II’s ARC hearing was held on April 22, 2014. Because Doe IPs advisor had a conflict, he was able to attend only part of the hearing. Doe II alleges that Cummins refused to accommodate his advisor’s request for a different hearing date. Like Doe I, Doe II claims that his initial ARC hearing was procedurally deficient in several ways: .
1. The panel heard a victim “impact statement” prior to an adjudication of responsibility.
2. The panel misapplied the definition of “consent” and other legal terms as set forth in UC’s Title IX policy.
3. The panel permitted witnesses to make prejudicial statements and offer their own legal conclusions:
4. A Title IX expert was not permitted to testify about the proper legal defi- . nition of terms such as “consent.”
5. Doe II was not permitted to effectively cross-examine adverse witnesses because questions were required to be submitted in writing through the panel and no follow-up was allowed.
6. Unreliable hearsay evidence was admitted at the hearing.
7. The panel did not receive any evidence substantiating Roe Ill’s claim that she was intoxicated.
Id. at 46-47. Doe II was found “responsible” for violating UC’s Code of Conduct with respect to Roe Ill’s claims. Id. at 48. On appeal, Doe II was granted a new ARC hearing.
The second ARC hearing was held on October 28, 2014. Doe II claims that the second hearing was permeated with many, if not all, of the same procedural defects that plagued the first hearing. He also claims that Roe III told Doe II that he was a “rapist” and was “going to Hell” during her victim-impact statement. Id. Following these comments, Roe III qlleg-edly “stormed out of the hearing,” which precluded any opportunity for Doe II to cross-examine her. Id. at 49.
The ARC panel again found Doe II “responsible” for a Code-of-Conduct violation. Id. Doe II alleges that he was not allowed to appeal this finding but claims that Rocco affirmed this decision on November 10, 2014. As a result, Doe II was placed on disciplinary probation and required to complete and submit a seven-page research paper, Doe II has since graduated from UC’s law school, but claims that the negative notation in his academic record may affect future employment opportunities or bar admission in other states.
*443 D.
In October 2015, Doe I and Doe II filed suit in the District Court for the Southern District of Ohio against UC and several of its administrators for allegedly mishandling their sexual-assault disciplinary proceedings. They sought declaratory and in-junctive relief under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 against UC and the individual defendants in their official capacities. They also sought damages from the individual defendants in their personal capacities, alleging violations of their Fourteenth Amendment due-process rights. In addition, Doe I and Doe II sought damages and equitable relief from UC under Title IX, arguing that the adverse outcomes in their UC disciplinary proceedings were the result of gender discrimination.
UC and the individual defendants filed a motion to dismiss. The district court granted • the motion to dismiss on all claims. Specifically, the district court concluded that the procedures provided to Doe I and Doe II in the adjudication of their sexual-assault cases met the minimum requirements of due process as required by the Fourteenth Amendment. The district court also found that, irrespective of any due-process concerns, the individual defendants were, entitled to qualified immunity for appellants’ § 1983 damages claims. Finally, the district court found that appellants’ complaint failed to allege sufficient facts to raise a plausible inference of gender discrimination under Title IX. Doe I and Doe II timely appealed.
II.
We review
de novo
a district court’s dismissal of a plaintiffs complaint for failure to state a claim under Rule 12(b)(6).
Kottmyer v. Maas,
III.
The district court held that appellants’ claims for declaratory relief against the individual defendants in their official capacities were barred by the Eleventh Amendment, but that their claims for declaratory relief against these officials in their personal capacities were not so barred. Appellees argue that the Eleventh Amendment precludes all claims for declaratory relief against the individual defendants, both in their official and personal capacities. Although we believe the district court erred in limiting the availability of declaratory relief to only those claims made against the individual defendants in their personal capacities, we agree that the Eleventh Amendment does not bar the declaratory relief sought here.
The Eleventh Amendment bars suits for money damages against the State, arms of
*444
the State, and state officials acting in their official capacities.
See Rodgers v. Banks,
Because Doe I and Doe II are seeking prospective equitable relief, their claims are not barred by the Eleventh Amendment. Appellants are requesting an injunction against the individual defendants in their official capacity “prohibiting the imposition of, or reporting of, any disciplinary actions under the UC Code of Student Conduct.” DE 1, Compl., Page ID 63. If successful, this claim would not require the court to grant any retroactive or compensatory remedy. Rather, the individual defendants would merely be compelled to remove the negative notation from appellants’ disciplinary records that resulted from the allegedly unconstitutional disciplinary process. This is nothing more than prospective remedial action.
See Thomson v. Harmony,
Appellees nevertheless argue that appellants’ request for a declaratory judgment that the individual defendants violated the Due Process Clause is barred under the Eleventh Amendment because it targets past conduct. Such relief, however, is permissible under the Eleventh Amendment. Standing alone, this type of declaratory relief would likely be barred given its retroactive nature.
See Brown v. Strickland,
No. 2:10-cv-166,
IV.
The district court dismissed appellants’ due-process claims, holding that the al *445 leged deficiencies in UC’s disciplinary procedures did not constitute a violation of their due-process' rights. Appellants appealed, arguing that numerous procedural deficiencies resulted in a disciplinary process that deprived them of property and liberty interests without due process.
Doe I and Doe II claim that the procedural deficiencies pervading UC’s disciplinary process deprived them of a fundamentally fair hearing and a meaningful opportunity to be heard. In their complaint, appellants allege that UC engaged in numerous procedures that violated their due-process rights, including: (1) conducting biased investigations; (2) improperly admitting hearsay evidence without providing appellants the opportunity to effectively cross-examine hearsay witnesses; (3) permitting the ARC panel to hear impact statements prior to adjudicating responsibility; (4) improperly applying UC’s policies and Code of Conduct at the hearing; 2 (5) not allowing effective cross-examination of adverse witnesses; (6) denying effective assistance of counsel due to the inability of counsel to participate in the hearing; (7) improperly allocating the burden of proof at the hearing; and (8) utilizing an inherently biased panel that routinely finds in favor of victims. 3 Appellees contend that appellants received constitutionally sufficient procedures, namely, notice of the charges, an explanation of the evidence against them, and a meaningful opportunity to present their side of the story. For the reasons set out below, we affirm the district court because appellants received sufficient due process under the Fourteenth Amendment.
A.
The Constitution requires certain minimum procedures before an individual is deprived of a “liberty” or “property” interest within the meaning of the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
Mathews v. Eldridge,
*446
Once we conclude that due process applies, “the question remains what process is due.”
Morrissey v. Brewer,
Under
Mathews,
the level of process the Fourteenth Amendment requires is determined by balancing three factors: (1) the nature of the private interest affected by the deprivation; (2) the risk of an erroneous deprivation in the current procedures used, and the probable value, if any, of additional or alternative procedures; and (3) the governmental interest involved, including the burden that additional procedures would entail.
Mathews,
B.
The first factor to be weighed under
Mathews
is the nature of the private interest at stake,
Mathews,
C.
The strength of appellants’ private interests, however, is not the end of the inquiry. We must also consider the other two factors in the
Mathews
framework. To do so, we balance appellants’ private interests against the “additional procedures requested, any error-reducing benefit those procedures might have, and the burden on [the University] of adding those additional procedures.”
Flaim,
*447
In reviewing appellants’ due-process claims, we agree with the district court that, “to the extent that [Doe I and Doe II] base their due process claims on alleged defects in their first hearings, those alleged errors were harmless because their appeals were sustained and they both received new hearings.”
Doe v. Univ. of Cincinnati,
1.
There is no question that both Doe I and Doe II received adequate notice of the charges against them. Doe I concedes that he received written notice of the charges against him on March 12, and had a followup meeting with Cummins on March 28 to discuss the allegations. This was a full month before his first ARC hearing on May 2, Similarly, Doe II states that Cum-mins notified him in writing of the allegations against him on March 17, and that he had a follow-up meeting with Cummins to discuss the charges on March 26. This was also a full month before Doe II’s initial ARC hearing on April 22. This dual form of notice was sufficiently formal and timely to satisfy due-process requirements and provide appellants with a meaningful opportunity to prepare a defense.
See Flaim,
2.
Appellants make several arguments regarding the procedures actually employed at their ARC hearings, all of which ultimately fail to state a due-process violation. First, appellants challenge the use of hearsay evidence without adequate safeguards. Appellants’ complaint, however, fails to indicate what hearsay was actually allowed against them in their hearings. The only reference to the use of hearsay involves appellants’ initial hearings. As discussed above, any procedural deficiencies in appellants’ initial hearings were cured when they received new hearings. Because there is no claim that hearsay evidence was introduced in the second hearings, this allegation is irrelevant to our analysis.
Second, appellants claim that the ARC panel erred by allowing the introduction of victim-impact statements prior to adjudicating responsibility. While due process does not necessarily require that formal “rules of evidence, [or] rules of civil or criminal procedure” be applied in a school-disciplinary setting,
Flaim,
Third, appellants claim that they were denied effective cross-examination of witnesses because they were allowed to submit only written questions to the ARC panel, the panel did not ask all of the questions they submitted, and they were not allowed to submit follow-up questions. Although due process may require a limited ability to cross-examine witnesses in school disciplinary hearings where, like here, credibility is at issue,
see Flaim,
Doe II’s argument on this point, however, is stronger given he was not permitted to cross-examine Roe III, in any form, during his second hearing. But his claim that cross-examination was required still fails for two reasons. First, as mentioned above, Doe II’s private interest under Mathews’s first prong is diminished because he was not facing expulsion, only disciplinary probation. Thus, the requisite level of procedural formalities for Doe II was not as high as was required for Doe I, who was facing a serious suspension.
4
See Goss,
Fourth, appellants contend that they were denied due process because their ad-visors were not allowed to actively participate in their hearings despite being able to attend them. We have recognized that a
*449
student may have a constitutional right to counsel , in academic disciplinary proceedings where the hearing is unusually complex or when the university itself utilizes an attorney.
See Flaim,
Finally, appellants allege that it was constitutional error to fail to place the burden of proof on their accusers, effectively requiring appellants to prove their innocence. Although the locus of the burden of proof can frequently be dispositive to the outcome of a case, the Supreme Court has concluded that “[o]utside the criminal law area,” which party bears the burden of proof “is normally not an issue of federal constitutional moment.”
Lavine v. Milne,
Under Mathews, however, placing the burden of proof on the appellants may have proven constitutionally suspect due to the potentially detrimental effect on the accuracy of the hearing and the minimal burden of an alternate procedure. But, as the district court recognized, the facts alleged in appellants’ complaint tend to show that the ARC panel did not place the burden of proof on either party. Rather, the panel functioned as a board of inquiry, reaching its conclusion based on a preponderance of the evidence. Allocating the burden of proof in this manner—in addition to having other procedural mechanisms in place that counterbalance the lower standard used (e.g., an adequate appeals process)—is constitutionally sound and does not give rise to a due-process violation.
3.
Appellants’ most ubiquitous argument is that the entire UC disciplinary process was inherently biased against them, resulting in a fundamentally unfair process. It is unquestioned that a fundamental due-process requirement is an impartial and unbiased adjudicator.
Withrow v. Larkin,
Appellants make several allegations regarding UC’s disciplinary process that they claim evince a bias against those accused of sexual misconduct. First, appellants claim that, due to pressure from the Department of Education, UC employs a biased investigatory process in order to “look good” for the Department and preserve federal funding, CA6 R.16, Appellants’ Br., at 28-29. As the district court correctly observed, this is nothing more than a conclusory allegation devoid of any facts or evidence that UC, itself, has been subjected to any direct investigation or pressure by the Department of Education.
6
See Iqbal,
Next, appellants assert that Cummins displayed biased behavior against them, including: (1) seeking accommodations for the alleged victims while simultaneously investigating their allegations; and (2) preparing a biased investigatory report that excluded exculpatory evidence. With respect to the allegedly improper accommodations, these are required by federal regulations. See 34 C.F.R. § 668.46(b)(ll)(v). Complying with these regulations, therefore, is not evidence of Cummins’s bias. Moreover, any claim regarding the allegedly biased investigative report is weakened by the fact that Cummins did not ultimately serve on the ARC panels that adjudicated appellants’ culpability. Instead, appellants’ responsibility was adjudicated by an independent panel that considered all of the evidence allegedly left out of Cummins’s investigative report. Accordingly, even if Cummins’s initial investigations of the incidents were biased, those defects were cured by the ARC panel’s subsequent handling of appellants’ cases.
Finally, appellants allege a general bias by ARC panel members against students accused of sexual misconduct. They claim that the panel members received biased training that emphasized the rights of the complaining party over the due-process rights of the accused, and that the panel members had a history of finding in favor of victims in sexual-misconduct cases. These allegations are belied by the process appellants received. In both cases, the initial responsibility determination was reversed on appeal for inadequate hearing procedures. This demonstrates a system that places much importance on the due-process rights of the accused at the expense of losing a finding in favor of the accuser. Furthermore, Doe I was ultimately found “not responsible” for the allegations made by Roe II. It is difficult to explain how the ARC panel was biased against Doe I in finding him “responsible” for Roe I’s allegations but not biased against him in finding him “not responsi *451 ble” for Roe II’s allegations. Overall, this argument is untenable. Accordingly, we find that appellants’ claims of bias in UC’s disciplinary process lack constitutional merit. 7 ■
4.
Although not perfect, the process afforded to Doe I and Doe II comports with the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
See Flaim,
V.
Appellants also allege that the adverse outcomes in their respective disciplinary hearings resulted from gender discrimination in violation of Title IX. The district court found that appellants’ complaint failed to state a viable Title IX claim because it failed to create a plausible inference of gender discrimination on the part of UC. We agree.
Title IX prohibits educational institutions receiving federal funds from discriminating on the basis of gender. 20 U.S.C. § 1681(a)(1). Although we are not subject to a binding framework in evaluating a student’s Title IX discrimination claim, we have previously looked to the Second Circuit’s decision in
Yusuf v. Vassar College,
Appellants’ claims are most appropriately analyzed under the “erroneous outcome” standard.
10
Under this standard, “allegations of a procedurally or otherwise flawed proceeding that has led to an adverse and erroneous outcome combined with a conclusory allegation of gender discrimination is not sufficient to survive a motion to dismiss.”
Yusuf,
Appellants first contend that, in order to appease the Department of Education, UG adopted a practice of investigation and enforcement under Title IX that is inherently biased against male students accused of sexual assault. This claim is unfounded. First, to the extent appellants claim that the accommodations offered to the complainants during the investigatory process are evidence of gender bias, these claims fail because such accommodations were required by federal regulations. See supra Part IV.C.3. Second, unlike the allegations in the cases relied on by appellants, the allegations in appellants’ complaint are mere''conclusory statements, unsupported by sufficient factual allegations to make their claims plausible.
For example,
Doe v. Columbia University,
Appellants fail to allege similar supporting facts here. They do not allege that UC or any of its officials had faced public criticism for their handling of Title IX investigations prior to appellants’ hearings. Nor do appellants allege that UC— unlike Columbia University—was being investigated by the federal government for potential Title IX violations. Instead, appellants allege more generally that the Department of Education’s “Dear Colleague Letter” induced UC to discriminate against males in sexual-assault investigations in order to preserve federal funding. This conelusory allegation, without more, is insufficient to create a plausible claim of gender bias under Title IX.
Appellants next claim that UC’s alleged due-process violations—e.g., the limited right to cross-examination, the limited access to an advisor, and the improper allocation of the burden of proof—evidence gender discrimination in UC’s disciplinary process. Appellants, however, fail to show how these alleged procedural deficiencies are connected to gender bias. As noted by the district court, these deficiencies at most show a disciplinary system that is biased in favor of alleged victims and against those accused of misconduct.
11
But this does not equate to gender bias because sexual-assault victims can be both male and female.
See Sahm v. Miami Univ.,
Finally, appellants cite statistics that they allege evince a pattern of discrimination against males in UC’s investigation and adjudication of sexual-misconduct claims. Specifically, appellants claim that since 2011 there have been nine sexual-assault investigations at UC, and in all nine cases, the accused was male and was ultimately found responsible. Like appellants’ other claims, this allegation fails to create a plausible inference of gender bias.
First, as the district court aptly observed, appellants fail to eliminate the most obvious reasons for the disparity between male and female respondents in UC sexual-misconduct cases: “(1) UC has only received complaints of male-on-female sexual assault, and (2) males are less likely than females to report sexual assaults.”
Univ. of Cincinnati,
Second, nine cases is hardly a sufficient sample size for this court to draw any reasonable inferences of gender bias from these statistics.
See Simpson v. Midland-Ross Corp.,
Because appellants have failed to create a reasonable inference that gender bias affected the outcome of their respective proceedings, we affirm the district court’s finding that appellants have failed to state a plausible Title IX gender-discrimination claim.
VI.
For the reasons stated above, we affirm.
Notes
. For the purpose of our review, we assume appellants’ description of UC’s Title IX process is true.
See Logsdon v. Hains,
. Given that the Constitution'—and the case law interpreting it—mandates what procedures are constitutionally required following the deprivation of a property or liberty interest, and not internal school rules or policies, this argument clearly lacks merit.
See Heyne v. Metro. Nashville Pub. Sch.,
. Appellants claim that "[a]n ARC Hearing Panel has never failed to recommend that a student be found responsible and significant discipline be imposed." DE 1, Compl., Page ID 58. Like the district court, we take this to mean that appellants are alleging they faced a disciplinary panel that was inherently biased against them.
. In fact, the negative entry in Doe II’s disciplinary record has not prevented him from graduating law school or passing the Ohio Bar Exam.
. The complaint states that the federal government is investigating at least 129 schools for possible Title IX violations related to sexual assaults and then lists several schools that are the subject of those investigations. Notably absent is the University of Cincinnati.
. Appellants also cite statistics that allegedly suggest a bias against men in UC’s enforcement of Title IX. This argument also fails for reasons discussed infra Part V.
. Because we find that there is no due-process violation, we need not reach the question of qualified immunity.
. As was the case with the appellant in
Mallory,
Doe I and Doe II ask us to adopt two additional categories of Title IX claims: (1) "deliberate indifference” claims and (2) "archaic assumptions” claims. Noting that the
Mallory
court assumed only,
arguendo,
that such categories apply, we decline to adopt them because neither is applicable here.
Mallory v. Ohio Univ,,
. Because appellants do not allege that a similarly accused female was treated differently under UC’s disciplinary process, the "selective enforcement” standard is inapplicable.
. Although appellants attack this portion of the district court’s opinion as evidence of a due-process violation, we concluded that UC’s disciplinary process was not inherently biased, and thus complied with the minimum requirements of due process. See supra Part IV.C.3.