The College encourages all individuals who are subject to Prohibited Conduct to pursue all remedies available to them, including:
- Internally at the College through the Response Procedures set forth in this Policy, or
- Externally by reporting the matter to law enforcement, the relevant administrative agency, or pursuing the matter through civil litigation.
External and internal reporting options are not mutually exclusive and maybe pursued concurrently. However, if a report or complaint implicates both College Policy and law enforcement or other external agency, the College will proceed pursuant to the Response Procedures set forth in this Policy, including any Grievance Procedures as appropriate, regardless of action or inaction by outside authorities; provided, however, that the College may temporarily suspend or take other reasonable steps of limited duration to avoid interfering or obstructing law enforcement or other legal process.
Decisions made or sanctions imposed through these or other College procedures are not subject to change because criminal, civil or administrative charges arising from the same conduct are pursued, dismissed, reduced, or rejected.
To promote timely and effective review, the College strongly encourages individuals make reports as soon as is reasonably possible following an incident involving Prohibited Conduct. Delays in reporting may impact the College’s ability to gather relevant and reliable information. The College does not, however, limit the time frame for reporting alleged Prohibited Conduct. To the extent reasonably possible the College will take prompt and appropriate action in response to all reports of Prohibited Conduct.
If the Respondent is not a member of the CMC community, or is no longer a member of the CMC Community, the College will follow its Response Procedures to the extent reasonably practicable. However, the ability of the College to take disciplinary or other remedial action against the Respondent will be limited. If the Respondent leaves the College with a pending complaint, the Respondent will not be permitted to return to the College until the complaint is resolved pursuant to the Grievance Procedures.
Internal Reporting
All members of the CMC community are strongly encouraged to report information regarding any potential incident of Prohibited Conduct to the Chief Civil Rights Officer, the Title IX Coordinator, or other representative designated below; provided that under no circumstances is an individual required to report Prohibited Conduct to an individual who is the alleged perpetrator.
Chief Civil Rights Officer
Nyree Gray, Associate Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion
Heggblade, Second Floor
400 E Ninth St.
Claremont, CA 91711
(909) 607-0347
ngray@cmc.edu
Title IX Coordinator
Lynzie De Veres, Assistant Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion
Title IX Administrator
Athenaeum, Second Floor
385 East Eighth Street
Claremont, CA 91711
(909) 607-8131
ldeveres@cmc.edu
Deputy Title IX Coordinators
Emily Wiley, Associate Dean of Faculty
Deputy Title IX Coordinator - Faculty
Athenaeum, Second Floor
385 East Eighth Street
Claremont, CA 91711
(909) 607-3528
ewiley@cmc.edu
Kristen Mallory, Director of Global Education and Off-Campus Study
Deputy Title IX Coordinator- Abroad Programs
Bauer Center North, Room 220
500 E. 9th Street
Claremont, CA 91711
(909) 621-8267
kmallory@cmc.edu
Andrea Gale, Assistant Vice President for Human Resources
Deputy Title IX Coordinator - Staff & Third Parties
528 Mills Avenue
Claremont, CA 91711
(909) 607-1236
agale@cmc.edu
Nikki Ayers, Assistant Athletic Director for Administration and Compliance
Deputy Title IX Coordinator - Athletics
Roberts Pavilion
690 N. Mills Avenue
Claremont, CA 91711
(909) 607-3138
Nikki.Ayers@cms.claremont.edu
In addition to the foregoing College representatives, an individual may report Prohibited Conduct to any Responsible Employee at the College. Information shared or reported to a Responsible Employee about potential discrimination, harassment, or sexual misconduct will only be shared with a limited circle of College representatives. The use of this information is limited to those College employees or other representatives who “need to know” in order to assist in the review, investigation, or resolution of the report. In addition, and the within the context of any appropriate investigation and related procedures under the Response and Grievance Procedures, information may also need to be shared with other parties, including the Respondent and any witnesses.
The College recognizes and understands that there are unique confidentiality and privacy concerns related to student misconduct reports involving students. This includes consideration of a Claimant’s preferences with respect to whether to pursue any disciplinary action pursuant to the Response and Grievance Procedures. Although the College seeks to honor these requests where possible, there may be circumstances in which the College determines it is necessary to proceed with the Response and Grievance Procedure in relation to a student Respondent.
External Reports to Law Enforcement
The College always encourages individuals who have experienced sexual assault or other potential crimes to contact law enforcement. The Claremont Police Department is the local law enforcement agency with jurisdiction in the City of Claremont and The Claremont Colleges.
The Claremont Police Department
Emergencies: Dial 9-1-1
Non-Emergencies: (909) 399-5411
570 West Bonita Avenue
Claremont, CA 91711
Lobby Hours: 7:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m., 7 days a week
External Reports to Administrative Agencies
A student or other protected individual may pursue any charge of harassment or discrimination with the United States Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”). It is unlawful to retaliate against any individual for filing a complaint with, or for otherwise participating in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing conducted by, OCR.
United State Department of Education
Office for Civil Rights
Beale Street, Suite 7200
San Francisco, CA
(415) 486-5555
An employee may pursue any charge of harassment, discrimination, and retaliation with the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (“DFEH”) or the comparable federal agency, the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission (“EEOC”). It is unlawful to retaliate against any employee for opposing the practices prohibited by the California Fair Employment and Housing Act or comparable federal law or for filing a complaint with, or for otherwise participating in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing conducted by, the DFEH or EEOC.
EEOC Los Angeles District Office
255 East Temple Street, 4th Floor
Los Angeles, CA 90012
(213) 894-1000
DFEH Los Angeles Office
320 W. 4th St.
Los Angeles, CA 90013
(213) 439-6799
The College’s Legally Mandated Reporting Obligations
Although the College will normally follow an individual’s wishes with respect to contacting law enforcement, there are certain instances in which the College and/or Campus Safety may be required to report conduct to law enforcement authorities even when an individual has not decided to do so. Such circumstances include:
- Pursuant to its responsibilities under the Clery Act, the College includes statistics about certain offenses in its Annual Security Report and provides those statistics to the United States Department of Education in a manner that does not include any personally-identifying information about individuals involved in an incident. The Clery Act also requires the College to issue timely warnings to the College community about certain crimes that have been reported and may continue to pose a serious or continuing threat to the College community. The timely warning will not include any identifying information about the Claimant. At no time will the College release the name of the Claimant to the general public without the express consent of the Claimant. The release of the Respondent’s name to the general public is guided by Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and the Clery Act.
- In sexual misconduct cases, when there is clear and imminent danger or risk to the individual or the community, when a weapon was involved with the incident, when the alleged conduct involves sexual misconduct and the individual is a minor (under the age of 18), the College is required under California Education Code Section 67380(a)(6)to disclose the complaint to local law enforcement. The Claimant may choose to withhold their personally identifying information. If the Claimant chooses to withhold their information, the Respondent’s identity will not be revealed unless the Respondent represents a serious or ongoing threat to the safety of students, employees or the College or law enforcement’s assistance is needed in detaining the Respondent. In these circumstances, the College’s decision to report an incident to law enforcement will be shared with the individual.
- In cases involving hate crimes, pursuant to Education Code 67383(a), the College and/or Campus Safety will immediately report certain hate crimes which occur on or off campus or on non-campus property and which was reported to a campus security authority. The Claimant may choose to withhold their personally identifying information. The College will disclose hate crimes as defined in Penal Code Section 422.55 (a criminal act committed, in whole or in part, because of a person’s actual or perceived disability, gender, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or association with a person with those actual or perceived characteristics).
- Certain members of the CMC community are designated by California law as “mandated reporters” with legal obligations to report known or suspected abuse or neglect of children (those under age 18). For detailed information about the legal requirements, see the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (Penal Code Sections 11164-11174.3, or “the Act”). The Act encourages others not otherwise obligated by law to voluntary report known or suspected abuse of children (Penal Code 11166(g)). More information is also available by reading the Policy on Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect.
Other Reporting Policies
Amnesty for Alcohol or Other Drug Use
The College encourages the reporting of prohibited conduct under these Policies. It is in the best interest of this community that as many Claimants as possible choose to report to the College, and that witnesses come forward to share what they know. To encourage reporting, individuals who report conduct prohibited under these Policies, either as Claimants or a third-party witnesses, will not be subject to disciplinary action by the College for their personal consumption of alcohol or drugs at or near the time of the incident, provided that any such violations did not and do not place the health or safety of any person at risk. The College may, however, initiate an educational discussion or pursue other educational remedies regarding alcohol or other drugs.
Anonymous Reporting
Any individual may make an anonymous report concerning any alleged Prohibited Conduct. An individual may report the incident without disclosing his or her name, identifying the Respondent, or requesting any action. Depending on the extent of information available about the incident or the individuals involved, however, the College’s ability to respond to an anonymous report may be limited.
Public Awareness Events
Public awareness events such as “Take Back the Night,” the Clothesline Project, candlelight vigils, protests, “survivor speak outs,” or other forums in which individuals within the community disclose incidents of sexual misconduct are not considered notice to the College of sexual misconduct for purposes of triggering its obligation to investigate any particular incident(s). Such events may, however, inform the need for campus-wide education and prevention efforts, and the College will provide information about an individual’s rights under this Policy at these events.
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