For the purpose of this Code, the following definitions apply:
Accused: A person accused of a violation who has not yet entered an Institution’s Hearing or conduct process. Once a conduct process has begun, this Code uses the term Respondent.
Administrative Hearing: A resolution of a complaint between the responding student and the Dean of Students or designee. A student who proceeds with an administrative hearing waives the right to have the matter heard by the Hearing Board. A student who proceeds with an administrative hearing does not waive the right to appeal.
Advisor: A person of the student’s choosing who may accompany the student to a conduct meeting or hearing to provide support and advice. An advisor may be a friend, a family member, or a College employee. An advisor may not speak for the student or participate directly in the proceeding. Attorneys may serve as advisors in matters governed by Section 4 and where otherwise required by law.
Affirmative Consent: Affirmative consent is a knowing, voluntary, and mutual decision among all participants to engage in sexual activity. Consent can be given by words or actions, as long as those words or actions create clear permission regarding willingness to engage in the sexual activity. Silence or lack of resistance, in and of itself, does not demonstrate consent. The definition of consent does not vary based upon a participant’s sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.
Consent to any sexual act or prior consensual sexual activity between or with any party does not necessarily constitute consent to any other sexual act.
Consent is required regardless of whether the person initiating the act is under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol.
Consent may be initially given but withdrawn at any time.
Consent cannot be given when a person is incapacitated, which occurs when an individual lacks the ability to knowingly choose to participate in sexual activity. Incapacitation may be caused by the lack of consciousness or being asleep, being involuntarily restrained, or if an individual otherwise cannot consent. Depending on the degree of intoxication, someone who is under the influence of alcohol, drugs, or other intoxicants may be incapacitated and therefore unable to consent.
Consent cannot be given when it is the result of any coercion, intimidation, force, or threat of harm.
When consent is withdrawn or can no longer be given, sexual activity must stop.
Appeals Board: At least three College employees who had no involvement in the original matter, convened to review an appeal under Section 6.8. Members of the Board shall act in a fair and impartial manner.
Associate Dean of Students: Acts as Dean of Students when designated.
Bystander: A person who observes a crime, impending crime, conflict, potentially violent or violent behavior, or conduct that is in violation of rules or policies of an institution.
Clery Act: The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act is a federal statute that requires colleges and universities that participate in federal financial aid programs to keep and disclose statistics about crime on or near their campuses.
Code of Conduct: The written and/or electronic policies adopted by an Institution governing student behavior, rights, and responsibilities while such student is matriculated in the Institution.
College Property: For the purposes of this Code, it includes all land, buildings, facilities, and other property in the possession of or owned, used, or controlled by the College, including adjacent streets and sidewalks. It also includes College Village and the Campus Centers.
Complaint: An allegation of a violation of the Student Code of Conduct, which is filed with or by a college official.
Confidentiality: May be offered by an individual who is not required by law to report known incidents of sexual assault or other crimes to institution officials, in a manner consistent with State and Federal law. Licensed mental health counselors, medical providers and pastoral counselors are examples of institution employees who may offer confidentiality.
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. The existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on the reporting party’s statement and with consideration of the length of the relationship, the type of relationship, and the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship. Dating violence includes, but is not limited to, sexual or physical abuse or the threat of such abuse. It does not include acts covered under the definition of domestic violence. It does not require that the dating violence be a “crime of violence”.
Day: As used in this Code, means a business day. All reasonable efforts shall be made to expedite the process, but the Dean of Students may extend the time limits at their discretion in exceptional situations.
Dean of Students: The College official charged with the responsibility of administering the College’s Student Code of Conduct.
Deferred Suspension: A suspension that has been decided but not activated for a stated period, in order to give the student an opportunity to demonstrate that they can meet the College’s expectations. The student remains enrolled during the deferral period. See Section 6.7.
Domestic violence: A felony or misdemeanor crime of violence 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 in which the crime of violence occurred, 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 the jurisdiction in which the crime of violence occurred.
Hearing Board: Members of the College community approved by the Dean of Students to conduct a hearing as outlined in Section 6 and determine whether a student is responsible for a violation of this Code. Members of the Board shall act in a fair and impartial manner.
Incapacitation: Physical and/or mental inability to make informed, rational judgments and decisions. Where alcohol or other substances are involved, incapacitation is determined by how the substance impacts a person’s decision-making capacity, awareness of consequences, and ability to make informed judgments.
In evaluating whether a person was incapacitated for purposes of evaluating affirmative consent, the College considers two questions:
Did the person initiating sexual activity know that the other individual was incapacitated? and if not,
Should a sober, reasonable person in the same situation have known that the other individual was incapacitated?
If the answer to either of these questions is “yes,” affirmative consent was absent.
Incapacitation is a state beyond drunkenness or intoxication. A person is not incapacitated merely because they have been drinking or using drugs. The standard for incapacitation does not turn on technical or medical definitions, but instead focuses on whether a person has the physical and/or mental ability to make informed, rational judgments and decisions. A person who initiates sexual activity must look for the common and obvious warning signs that show that a person may be incapacitated or approaching incapacitation. Although every individual may manifest signs of incapacitation differently, typical signs may include: slurred or incomprehensible speech, unsteady gait, combativeness, emotional volatility, vomiting, and/or incontinence. Additionally, a person who is incapacitated may not be able to understand some or all of the following questions: “Do you know where you are?”, “Do you know how you got here?”, “Do you know what is happening?”, “Do you know whom you are with?”
Institution: Any college or university chartered by the regents or incorporated by special act of the legislature that maintains a campus in New York.
Interim Measures: Steps taken before a conduct matter is decided in order to protect the health or safety of any person, to protect the integrity of the process, or to prevent substantial disruption of College operations. Interim measures are not sanctions and are not a finding that a student has violated this Code. See Section 6.3.
No Contact Order: A directive that a student have no contact with a specified person or persons, whether direct, indirect, or through others. A no contact order may be issued as an interim measure or as a sanction. Terms are specific to each case.
No Hostile Contact Order: A directive that a student may have contact with a specified person but may not engage in hostile, threatening, harassing, intimidating, or provoking behavior toward that person, whether direct, indirect, or through others. Used where the parties will unavoidably share classes, programs, activities, or spaces and there is no safety concern requiring a no contact order. Terms are specific to each case.
Preponderance of the Evidence: The standard of proof used in this Code. It asks whether it is more likely than not that the reported conduct occurred. This is different than “Beyond All Reasonable Doubt” or “Clear and Convincing” evidence standards.
Privacy: May be offered by an individual when such individual is unable to offer confidentiality under the law but shall still not disclose information learned from a reporting individual or bystander to a crime or incident more than necessary to comply with this and other applicable laws, including informing appropriate Institution officials.
Reporting Individual: Encompasses the terms victim, survivor, complainant, claimant, witness with victim status, and any other term used by an institution to reference an individual who brings forth a report of a violation.
Respondent: A person accused of a violation who has entered an Institution’s Hearing or conduct process.
Restorative Resolution: A resolution pathway in which a matter is addressed through a facilitated process focused on acknowledging conduct, repairing harm where possible, and identifying next steps. Participation is voluntary for every participant. See Section 6.4.3.
Retaliation: Adverse action against another person for reporting a violation or for participating in any way in the investigation or conduct process. Retaliation includes harassment and intimidation, including but not limited to violence, threats of violence, property destruction, adverse educational or employment consequences, and bullying.
SaVE Act: The Campus Sexual Violence Elimination Act (the Campus SaVE Act) refers to the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) amendments to the Clery Act. The Campus SaVE Act is an update to the Clery Act, expanding the scope of this legislation in terms of reporting, response, and prevention education requirements around rape, acquaintance rape, domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
Sex discrimination: Discrimination on the basis of sex includes discrimination on the basis of sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation and gender identity. This also includes discrimination based on perceived identity whether that perception is accurate or not.
Sexual act: The term “sexual act” means –
Contact between the penis and the vulva or the penis and the anus, and for purposes of this subparagraph contact involving the penis occurs upon penetration, however slight;
Contact between the mouth and the penis, the mouth and the vulva, or the mouth and the anus;
The penetration, however slight, of the anal or genital opening of another by a hand or finger or by any object, with an intent to abuse, humiliate, harass, degrade, or arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person; or
The intentional touching, not through the clothing, of the genitalia of another person who has not attained the age of 16 years with an intent to abuse, humiliate, harass, degrade, or arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person.
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. Specifically:
Rape
Fondling
Incest
Statutory Rape
Sexual contact: The intentional touching, either directly or through the clothing, of the genitalia, anus, groin, breast, inner thigh, or buttocks of any person with an intent to abuse, humiliate, harass, degrade, or arouse or gratify the sexual desire of any person.
Sexual harassment: Unwelcome verbal or physical conduct that is sexual in nature. It is sufficiently persistent or pervasive in that it unreasonably interferes with, denies, or limits someone’s ability to participate in or benefit from the College’s educational program and/or activities. It is based on power differentials (“quid pro quo” harassment) or the creation of a hostile environment.
Quid Pro Quo Harassment occurs when an individual in a position of authority (such as an employee, agent, or other person authorized by the recipient to provide an aid, benefit, or service) explicitly or implicitly conditions an educational aid, benefit, or service on a person’s participation in unwelcome sexual conduct. This form of harassment involves an abuse of authority and is considered unwelcome, even if the victim acquiesces to the conduct or does not resist or object to it.
Hostile environment harassment: Unwelcome sex-based conduct that is subjectively and objectively offensive and so severe or pervasive, that it limits or denies a person’s ability to participate in or benefit from the institution’s education program or activity. This determination is based on the totality of the circumstances, including the ages, roles, and other relevant characteristics of the parties involved. A single serious incident, even if not pervasive, may create a hostile environment, and pervasive conduct, even if no single occurrence is severe, may also create a hostile environment.
Sex based harassment: Sex-based harassment is a form of sex discrimination, and means sexual harassment and other harassment on the basis of sex, including on the bases of sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation and gender identity, that is:
Quid pro quo harassment
Hostile environment harassment; or
Specific Offenses:
Sexual Assault
Dating Violence
Domestic Violence
Stalking
Unwelcome physical contact
Continued expression of sexual interest after being informed that the interest is unwelcome
Requests for sexual favors
Persistent requests for a date, telephone calls, emails or other communication that is unwelcome
Posters, photos, cartoons, or graffiti that are demeaning or offensive
Sexual language and/or jokes of a sexual nature
Unwelcome visual contact, such as leering or staring at another person
Comments or statements that are demeaning, humiliating, suggestive, insulting, vulgar, crude, or lewd
Sexual gestures
Following or stalking
Taking pictures that are sexual in nature
Preferential treatment or promise of preferential treatment for submitting to sexual conduct
Sexual Misconduct: Is sexual harassment or sexual violence, and encompasses a wide range of behavior for sexual purposes against another’s will or at the expense of another. Sexual misconduct includes, but is not limited to: sexual assault, intimate partner violence, stalking of a sexual nature, or any conduct of a sexual nature that is nonconsensual or has the effect of threatening or intimidating another.
Stalking: The Clery Act defines stalking as a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for their safety or the safety of others, or suffer substantial emotional distress.The course of conduct must include two or more acts, such as:
Following, monitoring, observing, or surveilling
Threatening
Communicating to or about the person
Interfering with the person’s property
Student: Includes all persons taking courses at the College, both full time and part time, online, credit and non-credit. Persons who are not officially enrolled for a particular term, but who have a continuing academic relationship with the College, are considered “students.” This includes persons who withdraw while an investigation of an alleged violation is pending and/or prior to completion of the adjudication process. It also includes persons who are enrolled in pre-collegiate programs, co-sponsored partnerships, and other re-occurring programs.
Title IX: Part of the Education Amendments of 1972, Title IX states, “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any educational program or activity receiving federal assistance.”
Title IX Coordinator: The Title IX Coordinator or designee(s) works in collaboration with the Dean of Students and Campus Safety.
Violence Against Women Act (VAWA): VAWA requires colleges and universities to: (1) report dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking, beyond crime categories the Clery Act already mandates; (2) adopt certain student discipline procedures, such as for notifying purported victims of their rights; and (3) adopt certain institutional policies to address and prevent campus sexual violence, such as to train in particular respects pertinent institutional personnel.
Written Notice: Notice provided in writing, including notice sent to a student’s College-assigned email account. Students are responsible for maintaining current contact information and for checking that account.