Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination: FAQ

Relevant Excerpt

Here is the definition of prohibited harassment that applies to students:

• Unwelcome physical, verbal, written or visual conduct that
  • is so “severe” and/or “pervasive”; and
  • objectively offensive; and that
  • so substantially impairs a person’s access to university programs or activities that the person is effectively denied equal access to the university’s resources and opportunities; and
  • is motivated on the basis of a protected category (e.g., race, color, national origin, sex, disability, age).

...

The following examples of unlawful harassment would likely violate UC policy if found to be sufficiently “severe” and/or “pervasive”:

• Making derogatory or dehumanizing remarks based on a person’s race (or other protected category).
• Physical assaults targeting individuals of a particular religion (or other protected category).
• Repeatedly sending unwelcome emails, text messages or photos of a sexual nature.
• Anti-Semitic or Islamaphobic graffiti scrawled on the door of a student’s room.