Definitions of Gender-Based Misconduct

This policy applies to alleged conduct that meets the federal definition of Title IX sexual harassment (“Title IX Misconduct”), as well as to a broader range of conduct and behaviors inconsistent with the College’s community standards (“SLC Gender-Based Misconduct”). The designation of conduct as either “Title IX Misconduct” or “SLC Gender-Based Misconduct” (also called “SLC GBM” within this Policy) is not a function of the seriousness of the alleged misconduct, but rather a function of the scope and coverage of federal Title IX regulations and the College’s broader jurisdiction to prohibit and discipline inappropriate behavior.

A. Title IX Misconduct

Title IX Misconduct violations include conduct that meets the following definitions, when the alleged misconduct is (i) based on sex; (ii) occurred in the United States; (iii) occurred within the College’s education program or activity; and (iv) the alleged misconduct would constitute a Title IX Misconduct violation.

In order to proceed with a resolution process to resolve an allegation of a Title IX Misconduct violation, the complainant must submit a signed formal complaint and be participating in or attempting to participate in the College’s education program or activity at the time the formal complaint is filed.

Sexual Harassment: Conduct on the basis of sex that satisfies one or more of the following:

Quid Pro Quo Harassment: When an employee, agent, or other person authorized by the College to provide an aid, benefit, or service under the College’s education program or activity explicitly or implicitly conditions the provision of such an aid, benefit, or service on a person’s participation in unwelcome sexual conduct.

Hostile Environment Harassment: Unwelcome sex-based conduct that is so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it interferes with, limits, or effectively denies a person’s ability to participate in the College’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: (i) The degree to which the conduct affected the complainant’s ability to access the College’s education program or activity; (ii) The type, frequency, and duration of the conduct; (iii) The parties’ ages, roles within the College’s education program or activity, previous interactions, and other factors about each party that may be relevant to evaluating the effects of the conduct; (iv) The location of the conduct and the context in which the conduct occurred; and (v) Other sexual harassment in the College’s education program or activity.

Sexual Assault: Any sexual act directed against another person, without the consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent. This definition includes:

Rape: Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, or by a sex-related object, without the affirmative consent of that person, including instances where the person is incapable of giving consent because of their age or because of their temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity. Both attempted Rape (which means to make an effort to do, accomplish, or effect a Rape) and completed Rape are prohibited by this Policy.

Fondling: Contact, for the purpose of sexual degradation, sexual gratification, or sexual humiliation, without the victim’s affirmative consent, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of their age or because of their temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity, that involves: (i) the intentional touching of the victim’s clothed or unclothed body parts; or (ii) the non-consensual touching by the victim of the respondent’s clothed or unclothed body parts (i.e., making the victim touch the respondent).

Incest: Non-forcible sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by New York State law.

Statutory Rape: Non-forcible sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent. The statutory age of consent in New York is 17.

Dating Violence: Any violence, including but not limited to sexual or physical abuse or the threat of such abuse, committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim. The existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on consideration of (i) the length of the relationship, (ii) the type of relationship, and (iii) the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship.

Domestic Violence: Any felony or misdemeanor crime of violence committed by: a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim; a person with whom the victim shares a child in common; a person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated with the victim as a spouse or intimate partner; a person similarly situated to the spouse of the victim under New York’s domestic or family violence laws; or any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person’s acts under New York’s domestic or family violence laws.

Stalking: A course of conduct directed at a specific person, on the basis of sex, that would cause a reasonable person to: (1) fear for the person’s safety or the safety of others; or (2) suffer substantial emotional distress. “Course of conduct” consists of 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. A “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 may include pursuing or following, unwanted or nonconsensual communication or contact (including in-person contact, telephone or voice messages, electronic messages, social media messages, and text messages), unwanted gifts, trespassing, surveillance, and other types of observation.

B. SLC Gender-Based Misconduct

SLC Gender-Based Misconduct violations (“SLC GBM violations”) include the following conduct. When a report or formal complaint does not constitute a potential Title IX Category violation because of the location or status of the complainant, the College retains discretion to respond to, investigate, and/or adjudicate the complaint as a potential SLC GBM violation.

Sex-Based Harassment: Unwelcome, offensive conduct on the basis of sex (including sex, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, transgender status, sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, and pregnancy or related conditions) that does not constitute sexual harassment as a Title IX Misconduct violation. This can be verbal, written, visual, electronic, or physical and includes conduct that does not rise to the level of creating a hostile environment.

The fact that a person is personally offended by a statement or incident does not alone constitute a violation. Instead, the determination is based on a “reasonable person” standard and considers the totality of the circumstances. The College considers the context of a communication or incident, the relationship of the individuals involved in the communication or incident, whether an incident was an isolated incident or part of a broader pattern or course of offensive conduct, the seriousness of the incident, the intent of the individual who engaged in the allegedly offensive conduct, and its effect or impact on the individual and the learning or working community.

Sexual Assault: A sexual act directed against another person, without consent of the victim, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent. Sexual assault includes the “sexual acts” defined in the Title IX Misconduct section above when they do not constitute sexual assault as a Title IX Misconduct violation because of the context in which they occurred.

Dating Violence: Violence committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim but that does not constitute dating violence as defined in the Title IX Misconduct section because of the context in which it occurred. The existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on a consideration of the following factors: (i) the length of the relationship; (ii) the type of relationship; and (iii) the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship.

Domestic Violence: Violence on the basis of sex committed by a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim, by a person with whom the victim shares a child in common, by a person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated with the victim as a spouse or intimate partner, by a person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction where the College is located, or by any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person’s acts under the domestic or family violence laws of New York, if the conduct does not constitute domestic violence as defined in the Title IX Misconduct section because of the context in which it occurred.

Sexual Exploitation: When an individual takes nonconsensual or abusive sexual advantage of another for one’s own advantage or benefit, or to the benefit or advantage of anyone other than the one being exploited. Examples of sexual exploitation include, but are not limited to:

• Invasion of sexual privacy;
• Causing the prostitution of another person;
• Nonconsensual observing or recording of private activity (such as undressing or showering) or sexual activity;
• Nonconsensual dissemination (including, but not limited to, posting, sharing, or publicizing) or explicitly threatening to disseminate images and/or videos of a sexual nature, including AI-generated images;
• Going beyond the boundaries of consent (such as letting a friend hide in the closet to watch otherwise consensual sexual activity);
• Causing or attempting to cause a person to become incapacitated in order to take sexual advantage;
• Exposing one’s genitals or inducing another to expose their genitals in nonconsensual circumstances;
• Sexually-based hazing and/or bullying; and
• Engaging in consensual sexual activity with another person while knowingly infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) or other sexually transmitted disease (STD) without informing the other person of such infection.

Stalking: A course of conduct directed at a specific person, on the basis of sex, that would cause a reasonable person to: (1) fear for the person’s safety or the safety of others; or (2) suffer substantial emotional distress, but that does not constitute stalking as defined in the Title IX Misconduct section. “Course of conduct” consists of 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. A “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 may include pursuing or following, unwanted or nonconsensual communication or contact (including in-person contact, telephone or voice messages, electronic messages, social media messages, and text messages), unwanted gifts, trespassing, surveillance, and other types of observation.

Retaliation: Intimidation, threats, coercion, or discrimination by the College, a student, or an employee or other person authorized by the College to provide an aid, benefit, or service under the College’s education program or activity, when done against any person for the purpose of interfering with any right or privilege secured by Title IX or this policy, or because the person has reported information, made a complaint, testified, assisted, or participated or refused to participate in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under this policy, including an Informal Resolution Process.