Sexual harassment in any form is against the law and will not be tolerated by Middlesex College. The College is committed to the belief that all individuals who work at or attend the College have the right to enjoy an environment that is free of inappropriate conduct and communications based on the employee’s or student’s gender.
Middlesex College opposes sexual harassment in any form, by any employee, student, or representative of the College, regardless of whether the victim or actor is male or female. Such conduct will not be tolerated and this policy will be vigorously enforced. Violation of this policy is a serious matter and will be dealt with accordingly.
Middlesex College is committed to the belief that any employee, student, or representative of the College has the right to enjoy an environment that is free of bullying and inappropriate conduct or communications. The College opposes discrimination and harassment in any form on the basis of sex, race, creed, national origin, ancestry, nationality, color, marital status, civil union or domestic partnership status, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity, age, handicap (and/or disability), service in the armed forces, atypical hereditary cellular blood trait, genetic information, refusal to submit to genetic tests, or refusal to make available results of genetic tests, whether by any employee or student of Middlesex College, or by any other party dealing with the College. This policy will be vigorously enforced. Violation of this policy is a serious matter, and will be dealt with accordingly.
Middlesex College is committed to providing an institutional environment where all persons may pursue their studies, careers, duties, and activities in an atmosphere free of threat of unwelcome and unwanted sexual actions. It strongly condemns sexual offenses, will not tolerate sexual offenders, and supports those who have been victimized.
Sexual assaults are serious violations of the College’s student judicial code, faculty standards and College employee policies. They are crimes under state and federal laws and punishable by fines and/or imprisonment. In addition, these actions are subject to civil suit for damages.
Each academic year new students will receive sexual misconduct information through presentations given during the new student orientation or by other effective methods. Each academic year, new faculty will receive information about sexual misconduct during faculty orientation.
Policy No. 3.28.0: Violence Against Women Act and the Campus Sexual Violence Act
Members of the College community, guests, and visitors have the right to be free from all forms of sex/gender harassment, discrimination, and misconduct, examples of which can include acts of sexual violence, sexual harassment, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking. All members of the campus community are expected to conduct themselves in a manner that does not infringe upon the rights of others. The College believes in zero tolerance for sex/gender-based misconduct. Zero tolerance means that when an allegation of misconduct is brought to an appropriate administrator’s attention, protective and other remedial measures will be used to reasonably ensure that such conduct ends, is not repeated, and the effects on the victim and community are remedied, including serious sanctions when a responding party is found to have violated this policy. This policy has been developed to reaffirm these principles and to provide recourse for those individuals whose rights have been violated. This policy is intended to define community expectations and the College’s procedures to establish a mechanism for determining when those expectations have been violated, and is derived from a model policy and procedure developed by the Association of Title IX Coordinators (ATIXA) which have been, in part or in full, promulgated by the White House Task Force to protect students from sexual assault and/or accepted by OCR in resolutions of its investigations of campuses accused of Title IX violations.
The College’s sex/gender harassment, discrimination, and misconduct policies are not meant to inhibit or prohibit educational content or discussions inside or outside of the classroom that include controversial or sensitive matters protected by academic freedom (The College’s definition of academic freedom can be found with the Middlesex College Board of Trustees policy manual.)
The College uses the preponderance of the evidence (also known as “more likely than not”) as a standard for proof of whether a violation occurred. In campus resolution proceedings, legal terms like “guilt”, “innocence”, and “burdens of proof” are not applicable, but the College never assumes a responding party is in violation of College policy, Campus resolution proceedings are conducted to take into account the totality of all evidence available, for all relevant sources.
Policy No. 3.29.0: Sex / Gender Harassment, Discrimination, and Misconduct
Middlesex College is compliant with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (“Title IX”), as amended, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational programs and activities. The sex discrimination prohibited by Title IX includes various forms of sexual harassment and sexual violence, including VAWA offenses, that interfere with a person’s equal access to the College’s educational programs and activities. This policy is intended to implement the requirements of Title IX and the regulations promulgated by the United States Department of Education on May 19, 2020, which define sexual harassment, address how the College must respond to reports of misconduct falling within that definition and require a specific grievance process that the College must follow.
In accordance with 34 C.F.R. § 106.45(b)(10)(i)(D), TRAINING MATERIALS:
Sexual misconduct is a form of sex discrimination prohibited by Federal and State discrimination laws, including Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and is strictly prohibited by Middlesex College. Sexual harassment, sexual assault, domestic and dating violence, stalking, and retaliation are acts that fall into this category.
Middlesex College has resources available to assist survivors of these acts. To report these behaviors to the College, you can: