This policy prohibits discrimination and harassment based on protected status including race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, or genetic information.  The policy also prohibits retaliation for raising concerns under this policy or participating in an investigation. The policy applies to students, staff, faculty, administrators, contractors, visitors, residents, and guests/members of the public in accordance with federal and state statutory and decisional law.

Generally, unlawful discrimination means failing to treat people in similar circumstances equally, at least based in part, on status that is protected under applicable law or policy.  Protected status includes race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression and genetic information.

The Equity and Access Office is the university’s neutral unit charged with investigating complaints under the Nondiscrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy. The Equity and Access Office is available to anyone who requests to discuss concerns about discrimination, to explore complaint options, and for assistance locating other university offices or resources that may be of assistance for a particular problem or issue.

A person’s actual or perceived (by others) membership in a group characterized by shared physical, cultural, or ethnic traits.  This includes traditional racial groups (e.g., White, Black, African American, Asian, American Indian, or Alaska Native) as well as those that may be defined by ancestry, ethnic identity, or perceived racial affiliation.  Discrimination based on race occurs when someone is treated unfavorably because of a person’s actual or perceived race or a person’s association with those who are members of a particular race or perceived as being members of a particular race.  Discrimination based on race can occur when those involved are the same race.  Though each case is fact specific, some examples might include, but are not limited to, racial slurs, offensive or derogatory remarks about a person’s race, or the display of racially offensive symbols.      

The actual or perceived pigmentation, complexion, or shade/tone of a person’s skin (i.e., lightness, darkness, or other color characteristic of a person’s skin), regardless of that person’s race or ethnicity.  Discrimination based on color occurs when someone is treated unfavorably because of a person’s actual or perceived completion or a person’s association with someone having or being perceived as having a certain completion.  Discrimination based on color can occur when those involved are the same color.  Though each case is fact specific, some examples might include, but are not limited to, someone providing extra benefits to students in a class who have darker skin and denying those benefits to those with lighter skin, or a supervisor promoting employees with light skin over employees with dark skin who have the same qualifications.

Generally, religion includes all aspects of religious observance, practice, and belief as well as moral or ethical beliefs about life, purpose and death which are sincerely held. These beliefs may or may not be held as part of traditional, organized religions.  Social, political, and economic ideas, or personal preferences are not considered religious beliefs under this policy.  The university prohibits discrimination based on religion – or the absence of religious belief – and provides accommodation and adjustment for individuals to engage in university programs and activities based on their sincerely held religious beliefs and practices.

Generally, this refers to a person’s sex at birth.  In some contexts, sex may also include gender identity and expression and sexual orientation. Please see the FAQs relating to the Sexual Misconduct Policy located on the website for the Office of the Resolution for Sexual Misconduct: Title IX Institutional Compliance, Prevention and Response.

A person’s actual or perceived place of origin, ancestry, ethnicity/ethnic characteristic, language or accent, cultural heritage, surname or name associated with a nation, or association with people of a particular nation or origin, regardless of a person’s citizenship or immigration status. For the purposes of this definition, national origin also encompasses actual or perceived shared ancestry, ethnic characteristics, or citizenship or residency in a country with a dominant religion or distinct religious identity.

Shared ancestry involves the actual or perceived ethnic, cultural, or ancestral background (e.g., lineage, familial origins, genetic inheritance, language, customs, societal norms, and heritage).  Discrimination on the grounds of shared ancestry might include discrimination based on actual or perceived religion (e.g., Jewish, Christian, Muslim, Sikh, Hindu, Buddhist, Shinto, indigenous/religious group), when that discrimination is interwoven with shared ancestry or ethnicity/ethnic characteristics.

Discrimination based on national origin or shared ancestry occurs when someone is treated unfavorably because of a person’s actual or perceived place of origin and/or associated ethnic, language, cultural, religious, or other related associations.  Though each case is fact specific, some examples might include, but are not limited to, treating a person unfavorably because of stereotypes about people who share certain ancestral or ethnic characteristics, appearance, dress, or speech linked to ethnicity or ancestry, not allowing a Muslim student-athlete to compete while wearing a hijab, targeting Jewish students or employees with swastikas, Nazi salutes, and Holocaust jokes, or treating someone unfavorably or unequally based on the person’s support for Jewish people, Israel (conceived as a Jewish state/collective), or Zionism.  Discrimination based on national origin can occur when those involved share the same national origin or ancestry.

For purposes of the university’s policy, discrimination based on age may occur when someone is treated unfavorably based on age.  Some examples include, but are not limited to, a supervisor denying a qualified employee a promotion because of the person’s age or a faculty member providing fewer educational opportunities to students because of the students’ actual or perceived age.

A disability is a physical, intellectual, or psychiatric impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, having a history or record of such an impairment, or being perceived by others as having such an impairment.  Discrimination or harassment based on disability occurs when someone treats another unfavorably based on an actual or perceived disability, or for someone’s association with an individual (e.g., a spouse) who has a disability.  As a federal contractor, the university also is committed to affirmative action in employment for individuals with disabilities.

The policy provides protections for service members and veterans from employment discrimination, and as a federal contractor, the university is committed to affirmative action in employment for covered veterans.

Please see the FAQs relating to the Sexual Misconduct Policy located on the website for the Office of the Resolution for Sexual Misconduct: Title IX Institutional Compliance, Prevention and Response for information relating to this. 

Gender identity is an individual’s internal sense of their gender, and gender expression is the way a person appears to others in terms of behavior, clothing, hairstyle, voice, or body characteristics.  Please see the FAQs relating to the Sexual Misconduct Policy located on the website for the Office of the Resolution for Sexual Misconduct: Title IX Institutional Compliance, Prevention and Response for more information. 

Generally, genetic information includes information about an individual’s genetic tests and the genetic tests of an individual’s family members, as well as information about the manifestation of a disease or disorder in an individual’s family members (i.e., family medical history).  Discrimination based on genetic information may occur by treating someone unfavorably based on genetic information.  Though each situation is fact specific, someone examples include, but are not limited to, denying a person a job based on genetic information, making offensive or derogatory remarks about an applicant or employee’s genetic information, or about the genetic information of a relative of the applicant or employee.

Retaliation occurs when action is taken against an individual for participating in a protected activity, such as filing a complaint under Nondiscrimination and Anti-Harassment policy (NDAH), being a participant in an NDAH investigation, expressing concerns which relate to NDAH policy, refusing directives that would result in discrimination, or requesting disability, religious, pregnancy or lactation accommodation. Retaliation may take many forms and can include the following actions if taken as a result of an individual’s participation in a protected activity: spreading rumors that someone is untrustworthy, reprimanding someone, moving an individual to less desirable assignments, increasing scrutiny towards an individual, treating individuals related to that person poorly or requesting that your friends or family treat them unfavorably, shunning someone, threatening or actually making reports about someone (e.g., to law enforcement, university officials, immigration officials, etc.), and so on. It is important to refrain from taking actions which could be retaliatory. Individuals who wish to report concerns of retaliation should use the reporting form on this page, which will allow this office to review the circumstances and determine if the behavior warrants University intervention.