“No person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
--Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
In addition to addressing sex- and gender-based discrimination through Title IX, The Office for Civil Rights, Compliance, and Community Initiatives oversees Wofford’s compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VI requires that institutions receiving any type of federal financial support operate in a non-discriminatory manner.
Title VI’s statutory language prohibits discrimination based on race, color or national origin. In its implementation, Title VI outlaws all forms of ethnic discrimination, including discrimination based on actual or assumed religious faith, assumed ethnic or religious identity based on family name or physical appearance, and one’s facility with the English language. For more on the educational programs and activities that Title VI covers, please consult the Office for Civil Rights’ Education and Title VI page.
Wofford is committed to building an open and welcoming academic community in which discrimination is not tolerated. This is reflected in the college’s mission statement, its statement of nondiscrimination, Article II, Section 2.01 of the college’s Nondiscrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy and its historic and ongoing commitment to liberal education and moral principle.
Allegations of discriminatory and harassing behavior will be reported and investigated as follows.
Section 3.02 of the Nondiscrimination and Antiharassment Policy explicitly forbids discriminatory harassment. The college defines “discriminatory harassment” as “unwelcome conduct by any member or group of the community on the basis of actual or perceived membership in a class protected by policy or law.”
Wofford pledges “to act to remedy all forms of harassment when reported, whether or not the harassment rises of the level of creating a ‘hostile environment.’ A hostile environment is one that unreasonably interferes with, limits or effectively denies an individual’s educational or employment access, benefits or opportunities. This discriminatory effect results from harassing verbal, written, graphic or physical conduct that is severe or pervasive and objectively offensive.”
The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission defines harassment under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Many kinds of conduct may be considered harassing, but the EEOC particularly references “offensive jokes, slurs, epithets or name calling, physical assaults or threats, intimidation, ridicule or mockery, insults of put-downs, offensive objects of pictures, and interference with work performance.”
Anyone experiencing discrimination and/or harassment from a college employee or student should report it using the college’s Discrimination and Harassment Reporting Form or by contacting Jarvis Steele, Title IX coordinator, at titleix@wofford.edu or at 864-597-4048. If the discriminatory behavior involves physical abuse or threats, please contact Campus Safety at 864-597-4911 immediately.
The Office for Civil Rights, Compliance, and Community Initiatives takes all reports of ethnic, racial, and religious harassment seriously. Each harassment allegation will be investigated in accordance with the investigative procedure outlined in Section 5.01 and Article VI of the Nondiscrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy. Some reported behaviors may be offensive, but not rise to the level of a punishable policy violation. The college may still take corrective action in those cases as outlined in Section 2.06 of the policy: “The college reserves the right to address reported conduct that does not or would not rise to the level of a violation of this policy. Addressing such reports will not result in the imposition of discipline under this policy, but the college may conduct educational conversations, implement remedial actions, organize mediated conversations and/or effectuate other informal resolution mechanisms.”
For more information about how discrimination and harassment investigations are conducted and your rights during the proceedings, please contact the Title IX coordinator or review the Title IX FAQs.
Quoting from Section 2.05 of the Nondiscrimination and Anti-Harassment Policy: “Students, staff and faculty are entitled to learn, live and work in an educational and employment environment that is free of discrimination and harassment. This policy is not intended to inhibit or prohibit educational content or discussions inside or outside of the classroom that include germane but controversial or sensitive subject matters protected by academic freedom. When speech or conduct is protected by academic freedom, it will not be considered a violation of this policy, though remedies may be offered to those impacted.”
Colleges and universities are responsible for complying with Title VI, but ultimate responsibility for compliance rests with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Persons who feel that their rights under Title VI have been violated by an institution may choose to file a discrimination complaint with OCR directly. Please consult the information provided about how to file a discrimination complaint with the appropriate regional OCR office.