Your Rights
Title IX and university policies protects students and employees from discrimination and sexual misconduct. If accused of such behaviors, you also have rights as a respondent.
Know Your Nine
Title IX prohibits gender discrimination in education programs that receive federal funding. This means all public and charter k-12 schools, some private k-12 schools, and nearly all colleges and universities.
Sexual harassment, including sexual assault, is a type of gender discrimination that’s banned by Title IX.
Title IX is not exclusive to female students. Title IX applies to and protects all students, faculty, and staff.
Schools must have established procedures for handling gender discrimination and sexual assault.
Schools must take prompt action to ensure complainants continue their education free of ongoing harassment.
Schools must not retaliate against someone filing a complaint and must have procedures to protect complainants from retaliation.
Schools can issue “No Contact” directives to prevent accused respondents from interacting with victims and other parties.
Sexual harassment and assault create a hostile environment that interferes with students’ abilities to benefit from educational programs.
If a school knows (or has actual knowledge) about sexual harassment, including sexual assault, that creates a hostile environment, Title IX requires the school to eliminate the harassment, prevent its reoccurrence, and address its effects.
Complainant & Respondent Rights
Complainant
The party who makes the complaint.
Respondent
The person accused of Sexual Misconduct or sex-based discrimination.
The right to
report sexual misconduct to the university without discouragement and have report promptly and fairly investigated
be treated with respect by university officials
preservation of privacy, to extent possible and allowed by law
be informed of available resources such as counseling, medical, mental health, law enforcement, immigration, or services for victims/respondents, both on campus and in the community
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be fully informed of the sexual misconduct policy and process as described in the sexual misconduct policy
petition that any investigator, coordinator or university administrator be removed from the process on the basis of demonstrated bias
timely notice of any meetings
be provided timely access to review relevant documents or materials, subject to privacy limitations imposed by state and federal law
identify and ask the investigator to question relevant witnesses
have a representative or advisor present (although not directly participating) during any meetings with Investigator, Coordinator, or Appellate Authority
be informed in writing of the outcome and sanction of any investigation involving sexual misconduct
a finding and sanction (if any) based solely on evidence presented during the investigation
appeal the finding and sanction of the applicable administrator, in accordance with the sexual misconduct policy
have university policies and procedures followed without material deviation
be informed in advance, when possible, of any public release of information regarding the complaint
Focus Areas
Pregnancy, parenting, & LGBTQIA+ students are protected from discrimination and may seek accommodations. Check out our resources pages below.