Title IX: Our Community’s Responsibility for a Safer SEU

1. Title IX: Our Community’s Responsibility for a Safer SEU Faculty

3. What Is Title IX & How Does It Involve Me? Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 “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.”

4. What Else Does It Mean Then? Title IX specifically states that if the institution knows or reasonably should know about a situation where a student was sexually harassed (and all the definitions to follow), the institution MUST act to eliminate the harassment, preventits reoccurrence, and address its effects.

5. What Does It Mean for Me? • Know Your Rights • Be a Good Community Member

6. Be Alert for the Following • Sexual harassment • Sexual assault • Stalking • Dating or domestic violence • Sex offenses • Hate crimes based in gender, gender identity or sexual orientation Any of these fall under sexual discrimination according to Title IX and are under the university’s purview as long as they involve someone in the St. Edward’s community (student, faculty, staff, guests) on St. Edward’s property or at a St. Edward’s function (including off campus).

7. Sexual Harassment Sexual harassment is any unwelcome direct or indirect verbal or physical conduct that creates an offensive educational or living atmosphere that inhibits academic performance or a person’s ability to equally participate in the educational environment.

8. Sexual Assault Any unwanted sexual contact (touching, kissing, fondling or intercourse) committed without consent of the individual or against an individual who cannot reasonably consent.

9. Let’s Talk Consent • Ongoing • Must seek consent for every step of sexual activity • Active Agreement • Seek Nonverbal (active participation) • Verbal Consent (Will you? Why yes!) • Respectful & Honest • “Consent can be given by word or action, but nonverbal consent is less clear than talking about what you want and what you don’t. Consent to some form of sexual activity cannot be automatically taken as consent to any other sexual activity. Silence — without actions demonstrating permission — cannot be assumed to show consent. You will do well to keep in mind that under this policy, “No” always means “No,” and “Yes” may not always mean “Yes.”” • http://think.stedwards.edu/deanofstudents/studenthandbook/universitysexualmisconductpolicy

10. Stalking Stalking means engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to: • fear for his or her safety or the safety of others; or • suffer substantial emotional distress.

11. Dating Violence Violence committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim.

12. Domestic (Family) Violence Violence committed by current or former spouse or intimate partner; share a child in common; is or has cohabitated with.

13. Hate Crimes Based in Gender An underlying crime (assault, graffiti) that is motivated by bias/prejudice with regards to: • Gender • Sexual orientation • Gender identity

14. Hate Crimes Because of these [Holy Cross] values, St. Edward’s University is committed to ensuring and protecting personal and cultural diversity, affirming tolerance, and promoting social justice through recognizing the dignity and worth of each person. The university is committed to a policy of tolerance and is opposed, in both philosophy and practice, to the oppression of diversity by individuals, groups, or the institutional abuse of power. Intolerance refers to an attitude, feeling, or belief wherein an individual shows contempt for other individuals or groups based on arbitrarily selected characteristics. Employee Handbook Statement Against Intolerance Section

15. How Often Does This Happen? 1 in 4 women & 1 in 7 men are victims of severe physical violence at the hands of an intimate partner. 1 in 4 college women are victims of completed or attempted sexual assault.

16. College Students & Stalking • 34% of women of a traditional college age experience stalking. • 30% of men of a traditional college age experience stalking. • (http://www.cdc.gov/violenceprevention/nisvs/index.html)

17. What Can I Do? Lend support to someone who is a survivor • Listen without judgment • Provide support and encouragement • Know what kind of information they need (or where to find it)

18. Where Can I Find More Information? http://think.stedwards.edu/titleix/

22. Who Do You Report To On Campus? Steven Pinkenburg, 512-448-8408 Associate Dean of Students, Title IX Investigator Mary Dellinger, 512-448-8542 Associate Director, Human Resources, Title IX Investigator Lisa Kirkpatrick, 512-448-8408 Assoc. VP for Student Affairs/Dean of Students, Title IX Coordinator • Complaint against student • Complaint against faculty/staff • Any confusion about to whom to report

26. Application • Construct course assignments with your role as mandatory reporter in mind • Be clear about your role with students as much as you can (and your limits) • Know what information to give a student who discloses (or where to find it) • Pregnant students in the classroom

27. Title IX and Pregnancy • It is illegal to prohibit pregnant students from participating in any education opportunities, including extracurricular activities • The school’s response with regard to absences or accommodations (tutoring, allowing to complete work outside of the classroom) must mirror what the institution does in the case of temporary medical conditions

28. Retaliation • Retaliation is treating a complainant differently than you would normally because you know they have filed a complaint • It is illegal and against SEU policy to retaliate in any way in response to a complaint filed