Bias Education and Response

A bias incident at Hartwick College includes a broad range of conduct that can be verbal, non-verbal, written, or physical conduct that harms, discriminates or harasses anyone in our community based  on age, color, creed, disability, domestic violence victim status, gender, gender identity (including transgender status or gender expression), familial status, marital status, military status, national origin, predisposing genetic characteristics, pregnancy-related condition, prior arrest or conviction record, sex, race, religion, retaliation for opposing unlawful discriminatory practices, or other classes protected by applicable law.

Examples: racial slurs, microaggressions, degrading language, graffiti of offensive words or pictures, etc.

is a criminal act involving violence, intimidation, and destruction of property based upon bias and prejudice. As defined by article 485 of the New York Penal Law, a hate crime is when a person commits a specified offense and either:

1. intentionally selects the person against whom the offense is committed or intended to be committed in whole or in substantial part because of a belief or perception regarding the race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation of a person, regardless of whether the belief or perception is correct.

2. intentionally commits the act or acts constituting the offense in whole or in substantial part because of a belief or perception regarding the race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation of a person, regardless of whether the belief or perception is correct.

Discrimination is any distinction, preference, advantage for, or detriment to an individual compared to others that is based on an individual’s actual or perceived protected status that adversely affects a term or condition of an individual’s employment, education, living environment, or participation in a college activity, or is used as the basis for or a factor in decisions affecting that individual’s employment, education, living environment, or participation in a college activity.

Examples: Failing or refusing to hire or include an individual because of their protected characteristic.

Discriminatory Harassment is defined as unwelcome verbal, written, online, or physical conduct based on an individual’s actual or perceived protected status when an individual is subjected to substandard terms, conditions or privileges of employment. For example, when:

1. such conduct has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working or academic environment; degrades, humiliates, or denies a person or persons the full and free exercise of their rights or privileges; or unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance or the progress of the individual’s education; or

2. the acquiescing to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment or academic advancement, or

3. the acquiescing to or resisting of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment or academic decisions affecting such an individual.

A single instance of inappropriate conduct may or may not be sufficient to create such an environment. The determination depends on the severity of the conduct and related circumstances. Inappropriate behavior that is repetitive and pervasive is normally deemed to create such an environment and thus will constitute harassment.

Harassment is not limited to prohibited behavior by one gender towards another, or by a supervisory employee toward a non-supervisory employee, or a faculty to student. Harassment may be student to student, faculty to staff, or any gender identity and combination of student, faculty, staff, or visitor.

Examples: Unwelcome jokes or comments about the legally protected characteristic (e.g. racial or ethnic jokes) negative or offensive remarks or jokes about a person’s religion, physical attacks or threats of violence, etc.

Retaliation is any intentional adverse actions, including harassment and intimidation, taken by an individual or allied third party against another individual who has made a report or complaint, testified, assisted, or participated or refused to participate in any manner in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing under the College’s Policy Against Bias, Discrimination, & Harassment.