2024-2025 Policy Library 
    
    Nov 25, 2024  
2024-2025 Policy Library

Civil Rights Policy: III. Reporting



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 Resolution 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 procedures set forth in this Policy, 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 Formal or Title IX Resolution Procedures 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 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 this Policy. 

Internal Reporting

All members of the CMC community are strongly encouraged to report information regarding any potential incident of Prohibited Conduct to the Chief Diversity 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.

Nyree Gray, Vice President for Human Relations and Chief Diversity Officer, Title VI Administrator
Heggblade, Second Floor
400 E Ninth St.
Claremont, CA 91711
(909) 607-0347
ngray@cmc.edu

Joanna Rosas, Title IX Coordinator 
Athenaeum, Second Floor 
385 East Eighth Street 
Claremont, CA 91711 
(909) 607-3830 
titleix@claremontmckenna.edu 

In addition to the foregoing College representatives, an individual may report Prohibited Conduct to a Responsible Employee or the Title IX Coordinator at the College. Information shared or reported to a Responsible Employee about potential Prohibited Conduct 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, the within the context of any appropriate investigation and related procedures under the Resolution Procedures, information may also need to be shared with other Parties, including the Respondent and any witnesses. 

External Reports to Law Enforcement

The College always encourages individuals who have experienced sexual assault or other potential crimes to contact law enforcement. The Title IX Coordinator can provide information and guidance regarding how to file a compliant with local law enforcement, as well as information and assistance about what course of action may best support the individual(s) involved and how best to address the complaint. 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

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 Complainant. At no time will the College release the name of the Complainant to the general public without the express consent of the Complainant. 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 Complainant may choose to withhold their personally identifying information. If the Complainant 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 Complainant 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 Reporting Child Abuse and Neglect  . 

Other Reporting Policies

Amnesty for Alcohol or Other Drug Use

The College encourages the reporting of Prohibited Conduct under this Policy. It is in the best interest of this community that as many Complainant as possible choose to report to the College, and that witnesses come forward to share what they know. To encourage reporting, individuals who report Prohibited Conduct under this Policy, either as Complainants or 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. 

For cases involving Sexual Assault, Dating Violence, Domestic Violence, Stalking or California Sexual Violence, a student who makes a report of these types of Prohibited Conduct to the Title IX Coordinator or who participates in an investigation of these types of Prohibited Conduct as Complainant or witness, will not be subject to disciplinary action for a violation of CMC’s Student Conduct Policy that occurred at or around the time of the incident, unless CMC determines that the violation was egregious, including, but not limited to, an action that placed the health or safety of any other person at risk or involved plagiarism, cheating, or academic dishonesty. In these situations, CMC may require an educational conference where support, resources, and educational counseling options may be discussed and potentially require a learning action plan for an individual who has engaged in the illegal or prohibited use of alcohol or drugs. 

Anonymous Reporting

Any individual, other than a Responsible Employee, may make an anonymous report concerning any alleged Prohibited Conduct. An individual may report the incident without disclosing their 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

Employees are required to report to the Title IX Coordinator information about Sex-Based Harassment they learn about at 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 Sex-Based Harassment or other forms of Prohibited Conduct.

The Title IX Coordinator is not obligated to respond directly to any identified Complainant in a report of Sex-Based Harassment disclosed at a public awareness event that takes place on-campus or in a CMC-sponsored online platform unless there is an imminent and serious threat to someone’s health or safety.  
 
The Title IX Coordinator must respond to reports of conduct that could constitute Prohibited Conduct other than Sex-Based Harassment if disclosed at public awareness events, wherever they occur.