A CULTURE OF RESPECT
Questions & Answers
Do the Colleges have a zero tolerance
policy regarding sexual assault?
Yes. Sexual violence and rape are abhorrent
crimes. The Colleges do not allow anyone known
to have committed rape to remain on campus.
The Colleges prohibit all forms of sexual, sexor
gender-based harassment, discrimination
or misconduct—based upon gender, gender
identity, gender expression, or sexual
orientation—including sexual harassment,
sexual violence, intimate partner violence, and
stalking, and sex- or gender-based harassment
that does not involve conduct of a sexual
nature.
What support systems are in place to
assist students in crisis?
The Colleges have a team of professional staff
available to students 24-hours a day. It includes
licensed psychologists and counselors, health
care professionals, campus safety officers
specially trained to work with college students,
and professionals from the Office of Student
Life.
In the summer of 2014, the Colleges significantly expanded the Office of Title IX Programs & Compliance to include the Title IX coordinator, two psychologists and an experienced Title IX legal adviser. The Office oversees educational programming, compliance, investigation and adjudication of complaints. It reports directly to the president.
How do students report a sexual
assault?
The Colleges encourage all individuals to make
a report to the Title IX Office and/or Campus
Safety as well as to local law enforcement. Both
internal and criminal reports may be pursued
simultaneously. The Colleges seek to remove
all barriers to reporting sexual misconduct and
therefore offer any student who reports sexual
assault or harassment immunity from being
charged for policy violations related to use of
alcohol or other drugs. Anonymous reporting is
also possible through the Colleges’ online bias
incident reporting system.
Under the leadership of the Office of Title IX Programs & Compliance, the Colleges have convened a group of campus and community first-responders – the Sexual Violence Response and Evaluation Team – that meets monthly throughout the academic year to provide effective and coordinated first response and streamlined procedures. Community firstresponders include staff from the local sexual assault and domestic violence response service Safe Harbors of the Finger Lakes, the Geneva Police Department, the District’s Attorney’s Office, and FF Thompson Hospital.
What training is in place for students
regarding sexual assault?
The Colleges have had training programs
in place for a number of years that cover
everything from prevention to ensuring that
students understand how to report an assault.
During the summer of 2014, 35 faculty and
staff members volunteered to be trained to
facilitate bystander intervention training for
HWS students. Based on the highly regarded
University of New Hampshire model,
hundreds of students have participated in
these workshops during the fall semester. All
first-year students must attend. They join a
number of upper-class students who have
participated through their affiliations with
athletic teams and HWS clubs. Members of
the Title IX Office also met with every athletic
team to discuss the Colleges’ policies and
answer questions. Bystander training is the
first step in a continuous training program
that will give students the tools they need to
navigate a myriad of social situations that
require proficiency in topics related to race,
class, gender and sexuality.
What are the details of the case
profiled in the New York Times?
Out of respect for the privacy of students
and because of the restrictions imposed by
the Family Educational Rights and Privacy
Act (FERPA), the Colleges cannot release
any information or comment on the specific
details of any student misconduct case.
Media coverage as a result of the
New York Times story can be found on the
Colleges’ website.
Why do colleges and universities
investigate and adjudicate sexual assault
allegations?
All colleges and universities must act in
compliance with Title IX and guidance issued
by the Federal Office for Civil Rights, which
states that complaints of sexual assault
must be investigated and evaluated using
internal policies and processes. All colleges
and universities have a legal responsibility to
do so even when a student declines to report
to law enforcement. From the moment an
alleged incident is reported and throughout
the entire process of investigation and
resolution, all students are treated with
dignity and seriousness through proceedings
that are fair and equitable to all students.
What is Title IX?
A Federal law, Title
IX of the Education
Amendments of 1972
(Title IX), 20 U.S.C. §1681,
et seq., law states that,
“No person in the United
States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded
from participation in, be denied the benefits
of, or be subjected to discrimination under any
education program or activity receiving Federal
financial assistance.”
All public and private elementary and secondary schools, school districts, colleges and universities that receive federal funds must comply with Title IX. Under the law, discrimination on the basis of sex includes sexual harassment, gender-based harassment, sexual violence, sexual assault, other forms of sexual misconduct, stalking, and intimate partner violence.
The United States Department of Education maintains the Office for Civil Rights, which enforces Title IX. The principal enforcement activity is the investigation and resolution of complaints filed by people alleging sex discrimination.
The Colleges have had a full-time Title IX coordinator on staff since September 2013.
Is the hearing panel for sexual assault
made up of faculty and staff?
Prior to the summer of 2014 and in
accordance with best practices and the
Colleges’ previous Sexual Misconduct Policy,
hearing panels for all student misconduct
cases consisted of members of the HWS
professional community who volunteered for
the position and who underwent extensive
training in the dynamics of sexual violence,
factors relevant to credibility, the evaluation
of consent and incapacitation, and the
application of the preponderance of evidence
standard required by the Office of Civil Rights.
The Interim Sexual Misconduct Policy put in
place in the summer of 2014 mandates that
hearing panels must be comprised of external
individuals (not employed by the Colleges) who
are experts in sexual violence.
What are the next steps in the Office
of Civil Rights investigation?
The Colleges have cooperated fully with the
Office of Civil Rights, which has collected
and is currently in the process of analyzing
documents. The Office has not given the
Colleges a timeline for its investigation.
Opening a complaint for investigation does not
imply that the Office of Civil Rights has made a
determination with regard to the merits of the
complaint.
Current Issue
A Culture of Respect
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- Questions & Answers
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Alumni/ae
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