Descriptions of Sex or Gender-Based Harassment/Discrimination
The sections below describe the specific forms of legally prohibited discrimination, harassment and retaliation that are prohibited under the University Title IX Policy.
Sex or Gender-Based Discrimination
Discrimination is different treatment with respect to an individual's employment or participation in an education program or activity based, in whole or in part, upon the individual's actual or perceived protected characteristic.
Discrimination can take two primary forms:
1) Disparate Treatment Discrimination:
o Any intentional differential treatment of a person or persons that is based on an individual's actual or perceived sex or gender and that:
- Excludes an individual from participation in;
- Denies the individual benefits of; or
- Otherwise adversely affects a term or condition of an individual's participation in a University program or activity.
2) Disparate Impact Discrimination:
o Disparate impact occurs when policies or practices that appear to be neutral unintentionally result in a disproportionate impact on a protected group or person (sex or gender includes pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeedings, or related medical conditions, sexual orientation and gender identity) that:
- Excludes an individual from participation in;
- Denies the individual benefits of; or
- Otherwise adversely affects a term or condition of an individual's participation in a University program or activity.
The University will not separate or treat any person differently based on sex in a manner that subjects them to more than de minimis harm, except in the limited specified circumstances permitted by Title IX, such as sex-separated sports and housing. Notwithstanding, the University has the constitutional and statutory rights to make decisions regarding employment, admission and student status in a manner that is consistent with the tenets of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. This includes the expectation that individuals navigate the campus according to their gender assigned at birth. For more information, please refer to and .
Sex or Gender-Based Harassment
Sex or gender-based harassment is a form of sex discrimination and means sexual harassment and other harassment on the basis of sex, including sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, gender identity, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence and stalking. Notwithstanding, the University has the constitutional and statutory rights to make employment, admission and educational decisions in a manner that is consistent with the tenets of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. This includes treating individuals according to their sex assigned at birth.
(1) Quid Pro Quo Harassment
An employee, agent or other person authorized by the University to provide an aid, benefit or service under the University's education program or activity explicitly or impliedly conditioning the provision of such aid, benefit or service on a person's participation in unwelcome sexual conduct. The threat of a detriment falls within the definition of quid pro quo sex-based harassment, whether or not the threat is actually carried out. It most often occurs where there is a power differential (e.g., professor and student or supervisor and employee) and an abuse of authority that is generally unwelcome.
(2) Hostile Environment Harassment
Unwelcome sex-based conduct that, based on the totality of the circumstances, is subjectively and objectively offensive and is so severe or pervasive that it limits or denies a person's ability to participate in or benefit from the University's education program or activity (i.e., creates a hostile environment).
Whether a hostile environment has been created is a fact-specific inquiry that includes consideration of the following:
For purposes of Title IX, the nature of the unwelcome conduct underlying a hostile environment harassment must be either sexual or gender-based in nature. Thus gender-based harassment may occur even if the unwelcome conduct is not "sexual" in nature. Unwelcome conduct based on a person's sexual orientation or gender identity may also form the basis of hostile environment harassment. Unwelcome conduct may be expressed in the form of acts of aggression, intimidation or hostility, whether verbal or nonverbal, graphic, physical or other.
The following is a non-exhaustive set of behaviors that may constitute hostile environment harassment in violation of Title IX:
- Unwelcome sexual advances, propositions or requests for sexual favors
- Unwelcome or inappropriate exposure, display, touching or physical contact
- Showing/displaying sexually suggestive, demeaning or objectifying objects, pictures, words or gestures
- Unwelcome or inappropriate comments disparaging a person's gender
- Gender-based or sexually suggestive jokes, innuendos or gestures
- Gender-based stereotyping, bullying, sexism or sexist attitudes
- Unwelcome conduct based on sexual orientation or gender identity
Harassment can be pervasive if it is widespread, openly practiced, or well-known to students and staff. Pervasiveness can also be found if there is a pattern or practice of harassment, as well as if the harassment is sustained and nontrivial.
A finding that such unwelcome conduct actually occurred is not enough, in itself, to support a Title IX violation for hostile environment harassment. Rather, a Title IX violation occurs only when it is further found, by a preponderance of evidence, that as a result of the unwelcome conduct, the complainant was effectively limited or denied equal access to the University's educational program or activity.
An isolated incident typically will not amount to hostile environment harassment under Title IX, but it may violate another aspect of the Code of Student Conduct. The University reserves the right to address offensive conduct and/or harassment that (1) does not rise to the level of creating a hostile environment or (2) is of a generic nature and not based on a protected characteristic. Addressing such conduct will not result in the imposition of discipline under the University's Title IX Policy but may be addressed through respectful conversation, remedial actions, education, effective alternative resolution and/or other informal resolution mechanisms.
The definition of "hostile environment harassment" differs under Title IX (discrimination in education) and Title VII (discrimination in employment). Under Title VII, hostile environment harassment occurs when unwelcome sexual or gender-based conduct is so severe or pervasive or objectively offensive that it alters the terms and condition of employment as determined by a reasonable person.
(3) Specific Offenses
- Sexual Assault
It includes the following:
a. Non-Consensual Fondling: The touching of the private body parts of another person (buttocks, groin, breasts) for the purpose of sexual gratification, forcibly and/or against that person's will (non-consensually) or not forcibly or against the person's will in instances where the complainant is incapable of giving consent because of age or because of temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity.
b. Sex Offenses, Forcible: Any sexual act directed against another person without the consent of the complainant, including instances where the complainant is incapable of giving consent.
c. Sex Offenses, Nonforcible: Nonforcible sexual intercourse.
2. Dating Violence
"Dating violence" means violence committed by a person—
(A) who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim and
(B) where the existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on a consideration of the following factors:
Dating violence includes, but is not limited to, the following:
- Physical abuse (which includes, but is not limited to, pushing, shoving, slapping, punching, kicking, strangling, restraining, holding and tying down)
- Leaving the victim in a dangerous place
- Emotional/psychological abuse
- Threats of harm and/or intimidation
- Physical or social isolation
- Sexual abuse or sexual harassment
3. Domestic Violence
Domestic violence is a felony or misdemeanor crime of violence committed by a person who:
(A) Is a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim under the family or domestic violence laws of Michigan or a person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim;
(B) Is cohabitating, or has cohabitated, with the victim as a spouse or intimate partner;
(C) Shares a child in common with the victim; or
(D) Commits acts against a youth or adult victim who is protected from those acts under the family or domestic violence laws of Michigan.
Domestic violence includes, but is not limited to, the following:
- Physical abuse (which includes, but is not limited to, pushing, shoving, slapping, punching, kicking, strangling, restraining, holding and tying down)
- Leaving the victim in a dangerous place
- Emotional/psychological abuse
- Threats of harm and/or intimidation
- Physical or social isolation
- Sexual abuse or sexual harassment
4. Stalking
Stalking means engaging in a course of conduct on the basis of sex that is directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person either—
(A) To fear for his or her safety or the safety of others; or
(B) To suffer substantial emotional distress.
For the purposes of this definition—
"course of conduct" means two or more acts, including, but not limited to, acts in which the stalker directly, indirectly or through third parties, by any action, method, device or means, follows, monitors, observes, surveils, threatens or communicates to or about a person, or interferes with a person's property.
"reasonable person" means a reasonable person under similar circumstances and with similar identities to the victim.
"substantial emotional distress" means significant mental suffering or anguish that may, but does not necessarily, require medical or other professional treatment or counseling.
Stalking behaviors, when repeated, include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Non-consensual or unwelcome communication, including face-to-face, phone calls, voice messages, electronic mail, online communication, written letters, etc.
- Excessive calling or texting
- Threatening, intrusive, frightening or obscene gestures
- Following or pursuing
- Surveillance or other types of observation
- Trespassing
- Vandalism or destruction of victim's property
- Unwelcome gifts, flowers, etc.
Stalking is an insidious form of harassment that may initially be dismissed as harmless yet can dramatically impact the life of the person stalked and pose both physical and psychological risks.
All concerns about stalking behaviors should be taken seriously and discussed with a Title IX official, whether or not there appears to be a level of threat and whether or not the alleged stalker is known by the victim. Possible next steps could include considering a mutual No Contact Order.
