What is Title IX?

According to Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, "No person in the United Stated 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."

As a recipient of Federal financial assistance, the University is subject to the requirements and prohibitions of Title IX. Under Title IX, discrimination on the basis of sex includes the actions listed below:

• Sexual Harassment: unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature, that satisfies at least one of the following categories:
  • An employee conditioning the provision of an aid, benefit, or service on an individual’s participation in unwelcome sexual conduct (i.e. quid pro quo).  An individual does not have to submit to the conduct in order for quid pro quo sexual harassment to occur.
  • Unwelcome conduct determined by the reasonable person standard, to be so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to an education program or activity (i.e. hostile environment).
• Sexual Assault: As defined in the Clery Act which includes rape, fondling, incest, or statutory rape), as defined below:
  • Rape (except statutory rape): the penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the consent of the victim.
  • Fondling: the touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of their age or because of his/her temporary or permanent mental incapacity.
  • Incest: sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law.
  • Statutory Rape: sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent.
• Intimate Partner Violence: (Dating Violence, Domestic Violence, and Stalking, pursuant to the Violence Against Women Act/VAWA): a pattern of coercive or abusive behavior used to gain and exercise control and power in a current or former relationship:
  • 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. The existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on a consideration of the length of the relationship, the type of relationship, and the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship.
  • Domestic Violence: felony or misdemeanor crimes of violence committed by a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim, by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, by a person who is co-habitating with or has co-habitated with the victim as a spouse or intimate partner, by a person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction, or by any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person's acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction.
  • Stalking: repeated behaviors or activities whether in person, online, or through any other means which threaten or endanger the safety, physical or mental health, life or property of another or creates a reasonable fear of such a threat or action.
• Sexual Misconduct: conduct of a sexual nature that is nonconsensual or is carried out through force, threat or coercion. Sexual misconduct includes but not limited to sexual exploitation and voyeurism:
  • Sexual Exploitation: sexual exploitation occurs when a person takes nonconsensual or abusive sexual advantage of another for his/her own benefit or advantage or to benefit or advantage anyone other than the person being exploited, and that behavior does not otherwise constitute another form of sexual misconduct.  Examples of sexual exploitation include, but are not limited to, prostituting another, nonconsensual video or audiotaping of sexual activity, permitting others to secretly observe or record consensual activity or engaging in voyeurism.
  • Voyeurism: voyeurism occurs when a person, for the purposes of sexual arousal or gratification sexual purposes, surreptitiously invades the privacy of another. Voyeurism can occur in person or through recording or electronic means.
• Retaliation: adverse academic, employment, or other actions against anyone reporting or participating in an investigation of Title IX allegations.

The Office of Title IX and Equal Opportunity works to ensure that the university provides a safe and non-discriminatory environment for all students and will not tolerate anything that would compromise that responsibility.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Policy's and Procedures
Definitions
Reporting Options
FAQs 
Bystander Intervention
Pregnant and Parenting Students
Title IX Training Information Campus & Community Resources