Policy 05. 01. 01 Equal Employment and Affirmative Action Policy

Relevant Excerpt

Discrimination, under this policy, shall be understood to include harassment carried out through unwelcome oral, written, visual, or physical conduct directed at one or more individuals on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, citizenship, genetic information, or status as a protected veteran.

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With regard to students, such harassment is unlawful when it unreasonably interferes with or limits the student’s ability to participate in or benefit from services, activities, or privileges provided by the educational institution. A violation also occurs when, through such harassment, an educational institution has created or is responsible for a hostile learning environment so severe, pervasive, or persistent that it adversely affects the student’s ability to participate in or benefit from the institution’s educational program.

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Sexual harassment, in addition and more specifically, includes sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other conduct of a sexual nature that is unwelcome and is directed toward a person on the basis of that person’s sex. It may take one of two generally recognized forms. ... [H]ostile environment harassment occurs when the conduct is so severe, persistent, or pervasive that it unreasonably interferes with an individual’s performance as an employee or student or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working/learning environment. Examples of actions that might be deemed to create a hostile environment based on sex could include flirtation, vulgar language, sexually suggestive jokes, touching of a sexual nature, displaying or distributing sexually explicit materials, etc.