Emerson announced on Friday its new Office of Equal Opportunity, which will absorb the functions of the college’s former Office of Title IX.
Formed over the summer, the OEO seeks to expand the “scope of responsibility” once held by the Title IX office to provide care and support for students, staff, and faculty affected by discrimination, sexual violence, and harassment on campus.
“This includes conduct based on any of the protected categories, such as race, color, national origin, ethnicity, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity/expression, religion, disability, age, and other protected identities,” read an email from Vice President and Dean of Campus Life Jim Hoppe and Associate Vice President for Equity, Access, and Equal Opportunity Sonia Jurado.
Jurado will run the OEO as Title IX and ADA/Section 504 Coordinator alongside Deputy Title IX Coordinator Amy Condon. A second Deputy and Department Coordinator are currently being sought out by the college. The creation of these positions reinstates four full-time staff dedicated to Title IX work at the college—an issue raised by students in the spring semester.
Along with the opening of the OEO, the college announced a new Policy Against Discrimination, Harassment, and Sexual Violence and two new reporting procedures for Title IX and general complaints within the OEO. Effective immediately, students, faculty and staff can contact the OEO directly to file a complaint about a policy violation.
“These policies and processes were developed over the course of the summer with input from various community stakeholders including the offices of Community Standards, Human Resources, the Healing & Advocacy Collective, Academic Affairs and others,” said Hoppe and Jurado.
According to the new Formal Complaint Process, all impacted parties must meet with the OEO to submit their complaint. From there, the issue will be investigated or handled through an informal resolution process. Once the investigative procedure has concluded, the office will determine whether the final resolution will be determined by the FCP or the Title IX Grievance Process. The Title IX Grievance Process is reserved only for issues pertaining to “Title IX Sexual Harassment or Title IX Sexual Violence” per the ADHSV policy.
OEO is accessible to all community members on all Emerson campuses abroad and at home and can be reached at 617-824-8999 or at [email protected]. All reports and incidents can be filed at www.emerson.ethicspoint.com.
