Bias Reporting and Response

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Whitman College is committed to building a campus community that is diverse, equitable and inclusive of all students, staff and faculty.  Bias incidents are acts or behaviors motivated by the offender's bias against age, ancestry, color, disability, gender identity or expression, genetic information, military status, national origin, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or veteran status. These acts do not necessarily rise to the level of a crime. A bias act may contribute to creating an unsafe, negative, or unwelcome community environment.

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Both Bias Incidents and Hate Crimes can be reported using the form but different process are enacted as a result of reporting.

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The bias response process is not designed to replace or extend Whitman's formal grievance policy. Not every incident of perceived bias violates Whitman College policy or the law. Yet, many of these incidents can still cause harm to members of our community and we believe it worthwhile to work toward an appropriate resolution in these cases. In cases where there is no clear violation of law or Whitman policy, will expect resolutions to be educational in nature and not punitive.

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Instances of bias can happen in many situations and between any configuration between students, faculty, and staff

• Defacement and vandalism
• Oral or written racial epithets
• Racially-themed parties
• Hate messages and symbols
• Objectifying a person based on race or gender
• Mocking gender expression
• Derogatory comments in workplace settings
• Mocking person's language or accent
• Mocking a person's traditional manner of dress

This list does not encompass the full scope of what could be considered a bias incident.