On Monday, the Office of Institutional Equity released a new set of guidelines identifying prohibited behavior and outlining the process of investigating reports, including any potential consequences. 

On September 23, the Office of the President announced to students in an email that the new “Anti-Discrimination and Discriminatory Harassment Policy and Procedures for Students” is now published. The policy is a continuation of other University policies, including the “Gender Based Misconduct and Interim Title IX Policies and Procedures for Students” and “EOAA Policies and Procedures for Faculty and Staff.” 

Released by the Office of Institutional Equity (OIE), which was formed in the summer of 2024, the policy outlines the type of discriminatory student conduct that is prohibited, who is subject to the policy, the rights and responsibilities of those involved in a report of prohibited conduct, and the process for resolving a report, which ranges from an administrative or educational resolution to a formal investigation. 

The new policies go into effect on September 23 and do not apply retroactively. They apply to current students, student groups including their members and affiliates, students on leave of absence regardless of current registration status, and active alumni.

The policies identify discrimination and discriminatory harassment as behavior “contribut[ing] to a Hostile Environment” in a University program or activity at the University as a whole. It does not state what constitutes a “Hostile Environment,” stating that “the University determines [if] any alleged speech or conduct has created or contributed” to one. 

Policies outlined include expanding conduct to social media usage and specific stipulations about speech regarding foreign countries. The modes of conduct outlined by the University include “social media postings, flyers or posters on campus, and Student Groups or unrecognized Student organizations.” The policy clarifies that “Prohibited Conduct need not be directed at any particular individual or group of individuals to contribute to a Hostile Environment,” stating that it instead can be based on an individual’s perceived membership or association with a “Protected Class.”  The policy defines Protected Classes as characteristics including age, race, religion, citizenship status, or disability, among others. Gender is instead protected under the Title IX Policies and Procedures. 

The policy outlines that the process of investigating any reports regarding Discrimination or Discriminatory Harassment will include determining if alleged speech or conduct contributed to a hostile environment, and pledges to “promptly address the Hostile Environment and its effects, prevent its recurrence, and provide support to those affected.”

Discrimination, as defined by the policy, is the treatment of people “less favorably because of their actual or perceived membership in, or association with, a Protected Class, or having a neutral policy or practice that has a disproportionate and unjustified adverse impact on actual and/or perceived members or associates of one Protected Class more than others” and includes “treating an individual differently on the basis of their actual or perceived membership in, or association with, a Protected Class in the context of an educational program or activity without a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason so as to deny or limit the ability of the individual to participate in or benefit from Columbia’s services, activities, or privileges.” 

The policy describes discriminatory harassment as verbal or physical conduct that contributes to hostile campus environments and can interfere with an individual’s life on campus. This behavior can include but is not limited to epithets or slurs, negative stereotyping based on appearance or presumed ethnic traits, intimidating or hostile acts, obscene comments, and “calls for genocide and/or violence; and the display or circulation of written or graphic material in any form, including but not limited to social media.” Phone calls, text messages, emails, and social media usage are now considered to be capable of contributing to a hostile campus environment, whether or not the communications occur on campus, and can be constituted as discriminatory harassment in accordance with the new policy.

According to the new policies, speech or conduct expressing views regarding a particular country’s policies or practices can be considered discriminatory harassment if it is directed at or “infused with discriminatory comments about persons from, or associated with, that country or another country.” Regarding specific phrases, the policy states that “[t]he offensiveness of a particular expression as perceived by a Complainant, standing alone, is not a sufficient basis to create a Hostile Environment.” They further stated that any reports of discriminatory behavior will be assessed “from the perspective of the Complainant” and “the perspective of a reasonable person in the Complainant’s position.”

The policy also has guidelines against retaliation, including taking threatening action against anyone involved in a report made to the OIE, on the basis of their having made a report or interacted and complied with the policy. Retaliation also includes the obstruction of investigation, intentionally releasing confidential information, withholding relevant information, knowingly submitting false materials or malicious reports, and intentionally failing to comply with the policy. 

A published infographic details the process of investigating any report made to the OIE regarding the “Anti-Discrimination and Discriminatory Harassment Policy and Procedures for Students.” The policy urges those who have become aware of prohibited conduct to reach out to the University, stating that those who come forward will have their privacy respected to the extent that the regulations permit.

Alma Mater via Bwog Archives