A University policy has been revised to broaden the definition of sexual harassment to include sexual misconduct. The director of the Office of Equal Opportunity Programs (EOP) notified students of the changes to the Emory Equal Opportunity and Discriminatory Harassment Policy via email on Jan. 23.
According to the email sent to students, Emory is committed to an environment free of sexual harassment, sexual misconduct and sexual violence.
Danielle Dempsey-Swopes, director of EOP, said the new policy for students not only outlines the definition of sexual misconduct but also explains how complaints are to be reported, investigated and adjudicated.
According to the revised policy, sexual misconduct encompasses sexual harassment, non-consensual sexual contact (or attempts to do so), non-consensual sexual intercourse (or attempts to do so) and sexual exploitation.
According to Dempsey-Swopes, in 2011 the Department of Education released the Dear Colleague Letter that reemphasized the University’s responsibility in terms of sexual misconduct and sexual harassment. Many universities were already able to deal with sexual harassment, including jokes, hostile classroom environments and gender discrimination. However, universities were doing a poor job addressing sexual violence and sexual misconduct because their definitions were unclear.
“Our old policy was clear about the traditional forms of harassment but it wasn’t particularly clear about what sexual misconduct was and what that looked like,” Dempsey-Swopes said. “A couple paragraphs were added to help define sexual misconduct as a form of sexual harassment.”
The policy also states that sexual misconduct is a form of gender discrimination prohibited by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which is a comprehensive federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any federally funded education program or activity, according to the Department of Justice.
Dempsey-Swopes said the revised policy also makes very clear who the misconduct and harassment coordinators are and how people are supposed to contact them and report any misconduct.
“The campus community is now aware that there is a place for reporting sexual misconduct and there is a process for resolving those types of complaints,” Dempsey-Swopes said. “The changes make it very clear what that is.”
According to the EOP website, the Office of Equal Opportunity Programs was established in 1978 to ensure that Emory University operates in an environment that is free from discrimination and harassment.
EOP at Emory encompasses three things, according to Dempsey-Swopes.
EOP helps to manage administrative process for faculty and recruitment of faculty, investigates complaints of discrimination and provides nondiscrimination policy related training, Dempsey-Swopes explained.
There may be more changes to the Equal Opportunity and Discriminatory Harassment Policy in the future.
Changes will be made through a community process involving students, faculty and staff.
The EOP did not consult the Emory community into the recent changes because the Department of Education and the Office of Civil Rights require these changes.
“The next time we make changes, we can have a much broader discussion about what the community would like to see,” Dempsey-Swopes said.
– By Brandon Fuhr
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