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Yale Divinity School
409 Prospect Street, New Haven, CT 06515
STATEMENT ON SEXUAL HARASSMENT
Approved by YDS Faculty, March 1996
In the spring of 1988 the Faculty established a Grievance Procedure for Sexual Harassment which authorized the Dean to appoint
a Grievance Board. In 1996 the faculty approved the specific policies and procedures for the Sexual Harassment Committee at
YDS. The committee includes representatives of the administration, faculty, and student body. Sexual harassment is understood
as an attempt to coerce an unwilling person into a sexual relationship, or to subject a person to unwanted sexual attention, or
to punish a refusal to comply. A wide range of behavior is included in this definition, from actual coercing of sexual relations to
the forcing of sexual attentions, verbal or physical, on a non-consenting person.
The EEOC guidelines and Yale policy distinguish between two types of harassment: quid pro quo and hostile
environment harassment. Quid pro quo occurs when a job or job benefit is directly linked to a subordinate or co-worker’s
acceptance of a sexual behavior or demand. Hostile environment harassment is unwelcome on-th-job or in-school conduct of a
sexual nature that creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive working or learning environment and has the purpose or effect of
substantially interfering with the victim’s work. Hostile environment sexual harassment can include sexual advances, repeated
taunts regarding sexual preferences, taunting jokes directed at a person or persons by reason of their sex, obscene posters and
sexual favoritism in work assignments. Conduct may be considered hostile environment harassment if it results in students not
feeling comfortable in certain areas of the school or campus for fear of being alone with someone who constantly makes remarks or
other advances of a sexual nature. Isolated or stray remarks usually do not by themselves create a hostile work environment.
Sexual harassment may consist of physical and/or verbal behavior. Examples of actions that under certain contexts may be
considered sexual harassment include: unwanted sexual advances, unwelcome touching of a person’s body, repeated unwelcome
obscene remarks of a sexual nature, display of obscene objects, photographs, posters, or cartoons, implied or overt threats,
punitive grading or employment actions as a result of rejection of sexual advances, or sexual assault.
Concerning teacher-student relationships, the Office of the Provost at Yale University says on page 106 of the 1993
Faculty Handbook: “Because of the special trust and inequality of status inherent in the teacher-student relationship, sexual
relations between a teacher and his or her student, even when apparently founded on mutual consent, are potentially coercive,
and may be so regarded if a complaint of sexual harassment arises.”
In the academic context, where freedom of expression is a paramount value, there can be a fine line between that speech
which is permissible and that which constitutes sexual harassment. The determination depends on the facts of the particular case.
It is difficult to describe the variety of circumstances that can be seen as sexual harassment. In some instances sexual harassment
is obvious and may involve an overt action, a threat, or a reprisal. In other instances sexual harassment is subtle and indirect, with
a coercive aspect that is unstated. In still others, behavior may be inadvertently inappropriate or coercive, or it may result from a
lack of awareness or from a misunderstanding. Persons may find themselves feeling pressured in a variety of perplexing situations,
the recipients of unwanted attention, or may be unsure whether something they experience is appropriately considered sexual
harassment. In circumstances such as these, persons are encouraged to discuss the matter with a member of the Sexual
Harassment Committee* or an Associate Dean. Yale handles sexual harassment incidents the same regardless of whether they
occur on or off campus.
WHAT IS SEXUAL HARASSMENT?
Sexual Harassment is antithetical to academic values and to a work environment free from the fact or appearance of coercion, and it
is a violation of University policy. Sexual Harassment consists of nonconsensual sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or
other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature on or off campus, when 1) submission to such conduct is made either explicitly
or implicitly a condition of an individual’s employment or academic standing; or 2) submission to or rejection of such conduct is
used as the basis for employment decisions or for academic evaluation, grades, or advancement; or 3) such conduct has the
purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work or academic performance or creating an intimidating or
hostile academic or work environment. Sexual harassment may be found in a single episode, as well in persistent behavior.
Sexual harassment is a matter of particular concern to an academic community in which students, faculty, and staff are
related by strong bonds of intellectual dependence and trust. If members of the faculty whether Professors of Teaching
Assistants, Administrators, or other Yale employees introduce sex into a professional relationship with a student, they abuse their
position of authority. As with all the work of the YDS community, the Committee will undertake its tasks fully respecting the
University Policy on Academic Freedom as stated in the YDS Bulletin.
In some instances sexual harassment is obvious and may involve overt action, a threat, or a reprisal. In other instances
sexual harassment is subtle and indirect, possibly even unintentional, with a coercive aspect that is unstated. Individuals may find
themselves feeling pressure or unwanted attention in a variety of perplexing situations. Harassment by peers is as unacceptable as
harassment by faculty or staff of the University.
Harassment can include repeated unwanted phone calls; obscene calls or messages; unwanted touching or fondling;
display of obscene objects, photographs, posters, or cartoons in the workplace; implied or overt threats, or punitive employment
actions as the result of rejection of sexual advances; repeated taunts or taunting jokes directed at a person by reason of their sex or
sexual orientation if such conduct or speech inappropriately sexualizes the relationship; and sexual assault or attempted sexual
assault. Individuals may be unsure whether an experience is appropriately considered sexual harassment. In circumstances such as
these individuals are encouraged to discuss their concerns with a member of the Sexual Harassment Committee.
WHAT IS THE SEXUAL HARASSMENT COMMITTEE?
The Sexual Harassment Committee of Yale Divinity School exists to ensure that every individual at YDS is able to pursue her or his
education, research, teaching, and work at Yale free of sexual harassment. The Committee was created because members of the Yale
community consider sexual harassment an intolerable form of behavior, one that seriously threatens the bonds of trust upon which
our community depends.
The responsibility of the Sexual Harassment Committee is to address complaints of sexual harassment that students,
faculty members, administrators, and staff at Yale Divinity School may bring that may involve students, faculty, and administrators
at YDS. Sexual Harassment Committee members are very willing to discuss with individuals any problem of sexual harassment
which they may experience at Yale, and will give advice both about grievance procedures appropriate to specific cases and about
other sources of help available in the Yale-New Haven community.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT COMMITTEE
COMPOSITON AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The Dean of Yale Divinity School (YDS) will appoint a standing Sexual Harassment Committee to receive complaints of sexual
harassment. (The term “individual” is used throughout this document to refer to the complainant. The procedures outlined by this
document may be used by students, faculty, and administrators, of the YDS Community to receive counsel and/or bring a
complaint of sexual harassment.) The Sexual Harassment Committee may hear a complaint brought by a divinity student, a faculty
member, or an administrator supervised by the Dean of YDS against any student, faculty, or administrator. Complaints against
other university students and employees will be referred to the appropriate existing grievance mechanisms in other areas of the
university. The Committee will emphasize mediation and conciliation and will rely on discreet inquiry, persuasion, confidentiality
and trust in dealing with complaints that are brought for its consideration. Full cooperation with the Committee will be expected
from all members of the YDS Community.
The Committee will be composed of seven members from the YDS community: four faculty members, one administrator of
YDS, two students (recommended to the Dean by the Student Council President), and the Associate Dean for Student Life ex
officio, (“voice without vote” providing administrative assistance and policy/procedural interpretation to the Committee). At least
one of these persons must have counseling experience in sexual harassment. In making appointment to the Committee the Dean will
take into account recommendations from the faculty, the administration, and the student body for appointees to the Committee.
The Dean’s appointments will also be guided by consideration for continuity, experiences and sensitivity to the concerns of those
affected by sexual harassment, including YDS women and members of minority groups. It is recommended that, over a period of
years, women and men will be equally represented on the Committee. After the initial appointments, the Dean will also seek the
advice of the existing Committee on the appointment of new members. It is recommended that the Dean take into consideration the
advantages of both continuity and rotation with regard to the Committee’s composition. The Dean will appoint a faculty member to
serve as Chair of the Committee with the responsibility to facilitate administrative and logistical matters.
TREATMENT OF COMPLAINTS
The Committee’s treatment of complaints will be guided by the following principles whose intent is to protect the legitimate
interests of all persons.
All proceedings will be kept in confidence by the Committee and will not be part of the record in any other University
procedure which might ensue. The Committee will respect the wishes of the individual making the complaint regarding further
investigation and will not carry a specific complaint forward without the individual’s explicit permission or instruction.
No written records will be kept of informal discussions between individuals bringing a complaint and members of the
Committee. Any written recode of formal complaint in the possession of the Committee or the Dean will be destroyed no more than
five years after the initiation of the complaint.
Those immediately and directly involved will be kept informed of the status of the complaint. An attempt to harass or
penalize the complainant for initiating an inquiry or complaint (or any other form of retaliation) is prohibited and will be treated as a
separate incident which calls for review by the Committee or another appropriate body.
GENERAL PROCEDURES
An individual may bring questions about procedure, seek informal advice or present a complaint to any member of the Committee,
either orally or in writing. Upon being informed of a complaint, the Chair of the Committee will appoint and Informal Response
Team. Ordinarily, the Response Team will be composed, in consultation with the complainant, of the Associate Dean for Student
Life and a faculty member preferably although not necessarily from the existing Committee. If an individual does not express a
preference to speak with a specific faculty Committee member, the Chair will assign this role to tone of the Committee members in
such a way as to share the responsibility as uniformly as possible. An individual, after being given the opportunity to make a
written complaint, will not be required to present a formal complaint, the Chair will call the remaining members of the Committee to
hear the complaint formally. The Informal Response Team will not be included in the formal deliberation of the Committee so as to
separate clearly the advisory/informal and judicatory/formal functions of the Committee as a whole.
Any member of the Sexual Harassment Committee of the Disciplinary Committee who is the person against whom a
complaint is made shall be excused from serving in their capacity on these committees if and when the specific complaint is brought
before their respective committee, shall ordinarily but not necessarily appoint a person to fill this vacated position.
The individual is encouraged to come directly to a member of the Committee but may obtain the assistance of any other
member of the YDS Community, for example, a dean, a supervisor, a pastor, a teacher, or a student, in presenting a complaint or
concern. Committee members will also be generally available to consult with any member of the YDS community on the issue of
sexual harassment. It is expected that from time to time graduate students, staff, or faculty may wish to consult committee members
about such matters as the concern on the part of a faculty member about inappropriate behavior on the part of a student. The
Committee will make appropriate referrals of matters that do not fall under the Committee’s jurisdiction.
While there may be times when individuals, for various reasons, will want to protect their own identities and yet to initiate
action against someone who has submitted them to unwanted sexual pressures, fairness requires that the complainant identify
herself or himself in a signed, written complaint before any investigation can be made or any process is begun which might lead to
recommendations of sanctions. There are, however, two kinds of circumstances in which these conflicting considerations can be
mediated: when individuals wish to postpone, rather than to refuse altogether such identification, and when the individual, though
unidentified, wishes only to obtain the Committee’s assistance in informing the other person that a problem has been raised
concerning that person’s conduct. A completely anonymous complaint cannot result in any action or record by the Committee.
PROCEDURES FOR INFORMAL/VOLUNTARY RESOLUTIONS
In dealing with an identified individual who is seeking an informal resolution to a complaint of sexual harassment or seeking help in
mediating a spoliation to such a complaint, the Committee’s appointed Informal Response Team will be guided by the wishes of
that individual regarding the degree and the extent to which that complaint is pursued, as well as specific avenues that are used,
and the form in which the final resolution is achieved. In many of these cases the Informal Response Team may simply act as an
intermediary between the parties involved, or as an expediter in arranging meetings.
In this mode of operation (in which the Informal Response Team is acting not as an adjudicating body, but as a body to
educate and heighten the awareness of the individuals involve), the Response Team will not act unilaterally, but will seek the
complaining individual’s consent in any action which it takes.
This mode of operation can be particularly valuable in dealing with problems at an early stage when mediation and
increased awareness may be able to diffuse or resolve the problem before it has a chance to escalate.
Individuals who come to the Committee seeking an informal resolution of a complaint of sexual harassment will also be
made aware of their other options including (a) bringing a formal complaint to the Committee in the case of a student-to-
faculty/administrator-to-student complaint, and (b) bringing a formal student-to-student complaint, or faculty/administrator-to-
student complaint to the YDS Disciplinary Committee, and (c) complaint through the courts.
PROCEDURES FOR A FORMAL COMPLAINT
INITIATING A FORMAL COMPLAINT
An individual wishing to make a formal complaint to the Committee against a student, faculty, or staff member of the YDS
community must be willing to be identified to the person against whom the complaint is directed. The Committee will then proceed
in the following manner:
1. The Informal Response Team, after initial discussion with the individual making the complaint and with the individual’s
agreement, will describe the incident to the full Committee without disclosing details about the identity of those involved.
No Committee members may take action with regard to any complaint without the approval of the Committee. One member
of the Committee will keep a private and confidential list of all persons making complaints and those complained against.
2. The Committee (excluding members of the Informal Response Team) will consider whether or not the complaint falls
under its general mandate. If the Committee concludes that the complaint does not fall within its mandate, the Informal
Response Team will inform the individual and explain what other, if any, course of action the individual might follow.
If the Committee decides that the complaint is one which it can appropriately consider, at this point the persons who are
involved in the complaint will be identified to the Committee and one another, and the Committee will decide on a course
of action.
The complainant and the person named in the complaint will have the right to challenge the participation of individual
members of the Committee when the challenge is based on cause (e.g., close personal contact with one of the parties). The
Committee, excluding that person being challenged, will decide the disputed issues concerning the challenge and its
decision will not be subject to appeal.
3. If the complainant is judged to fall under the Committee’s mandate, then one or more members of the Committee will
undertake to talk to the persons directly involved in the complaint in order to clarify what is believed to have happened and
to obtain facts and views. The Committee will advise the complainant and the person against who the complainant has
been filed to consult confidentially with an advisor from the Yale Community, a pastor, a friend, etc. Two of the Committee
members, who shall be members of the family or administration, shall speak to the student/s, faculty or staff member
complained against and as part of these discussions shall inform the person or persons named by the individual or
individuals making the complaint as well as the substance of the complaint.
4. After the initial discussions have taken place and if the complainant agrees, it will sometimes be appropriate for the
Committee member contacted by the complainant to assist the individual in speaking directly to the person complained
against.
5. If it appears necessary for the Committee to speak to any persons other than the parties involved in the complaint, it will
do so only after informing the complainant and the persons complained against.
6. The members of the Committee who have spoken to the persons involved will report back to the full Committee to seek
its consultation and advice on how to proceed.
REVIEW HEARING BY THE COMMITTEE
If the Committee decides to have a formal hearing, after receiving consent from the complainant, the following procedures will be
followed.
The Committee will inform the complainant and the person complained against in writing that it is reviewing the complaint.
The person against whom the complaint has been filed will be given a copy of the individual’s written statement describing the
complaint if this has not already been done. Reasonable time (in no case less than a week and ordinarily within two weeks) is to be
allowed between the receipt of the written notification and the date of the commencement of the review hearing in order to provide
the participants time to prepare for a meeting with the Committee of the complainant or the person complained against or as the
Committee wishes it.
In the meeting with the Committee for the review hearing, the person bringing the complaint and the person named in the
complaint may each be accompanied by an appropriate support person/advisor, i.e., student, faculty member, supervisor, pastor,
dean, administrator, or other employees of the University. While these advisors may counsel the individual whom they are
accompanying, they may not participate directly in the proceedings.
The complainant and the person named in complaint will have the opportunity to present information and persons who will
provide information deemed relevant by the Committee. All documents considered by the Committee that relate to the actions of
the person against whom the complaint has been filed may be reviewed by that person; and the individual bringing the complaint
will be permitted to review those documents or parts of documents directly relating to the individual’s specific complaint that the
Committee believes to be relevant and concludes were not written under a presumption of confidentiality. Ordinarily, both the
complainant and the person named in the complaint may be present when either party or any other individual is being interviewed;
however, the Committee may enter into a meeting with or without the individual or the person complained against, or both, upon
the vote of a majority of the members of the Committee, except when any individual other than the complainant or the person/s
named in the complaint or none of them will be present as the Committee deems appropriate.
The Committee, having thus conducted its review and having interviewed further individuals as it believes necessary, will
then consider the grievance in private without the presence of either the complainant, the person complained against, or the
Informal Response Team. The Committee will prepare a written report (i) describing the facts it has found and the conclusions, if
any, it has drawn from these facts (ii) including a summary of the testimony that the Committee has relied on in reaching its
conclusion and that was heard in closed session. In a separate section of the report, the Committee may outline what actions, if
any, it would recommend that the Dean undertake. The report of the Committee will be adopted only upon the majority vote of the
members of the Committee who participated in the Committee’s review.
REFERRAL TO THE DEAN OF YDS
The Committee will submit its report to the Dean of YDS ordinarily within two months of the receipt of the formal complaint by the
Committee. The complainant may challenge the appro