Policy on Sexual Harassment
All Berea College employees and students are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the high human and spiritual values that arise from the College’s commitments and traditions. The College is committed to study, reflection, work, and social interaction which manifest these high values and foster healthy human and spiritual development. This requires an environment of mutual respect free of religious, racial, or sexual discrimination and free from harassment.
Berea College specifically prohibits sexual harassment of students, employees, or visitors, and is committed to investigating and resolving all such complaints. Such conduct will result in disciplinary action up to and including dismissal, whether the offender is faculty, staff, administrator, student, or trustee. Student offenders will be disciplined in accordance with provisions of the Student Judicial Code. The policy applies also to vendors, contractors, or other persons doing business with the College, in which case appropriate recommendations and business decisions will be made. Also prohibited is retaliation through discrimination, intimidation, threat, coercion, or any other means against anyone who has reported sexual harassment or filed a grievance alleging sexual harassment. Procedures for reporting, investigating, and hearing complaints of sexual harassment are described below.
In prohibiting sexual harassment in all its forms, Berea seeks to preserve and enhance academic freedom for all members of the campus community. Nothing in this policy is intended to limit the freedom of inquiry, teaching, or learning necessary to the College’s educational purposes, or to inhibit scholarly, scientific, or artistic treatment of subject matter appropriate to an institution of higher education.