I. Policy Statement
When sexual assault or sexual violence, including acquaintance or date rape, occurs at Lawrence University, the standards of the University community, as well as the criminal laws of the state of Wisconsin, are violated. (Hereinafter "sexual assault" will refer to both sexual assault and sexual violence.) This policy establishes procedures by which the University will deal with cases of sexual assault alleged to have been committed by members of the University community (Lawrence students, Lawrence faculty members, and Lawrence staff members) against other members of the University community or visitors to the University. It is explicitly an institutional policy and is in no sense intended to interfere with or to replace civil and criminal laws.
The University prohibits sexual assault committed by a student, faculty member, or staff member against any student, faculty member, staff member, or visitor on property owned or rented by Lawrence University or in the setting of any program sponsored by Lawrence University.
Sexual assault committed by a student, faculty member, or staff member against a student, faculty member, or staff member anywhere other than on property owned or rented by Lawrence University will violate this policy if in the judgment of the President of the University the conduct of the accused adversely and seriously affects his or her suitability as a member of the University community.
Lawrence University urges people who believe they have been victims or survivors (hereinafter "victims") of sexual assault to pursue criminal charges against the person or persons they believe to have committed the sexual assault. Victims are also urged to make a formal complaint (hereinafter the word "complaint" will mean formal complaint) to the University. A criminal charge and an internal complaint can be pursued at the same time, although if a case of sexual assault becomes subject to criminal proceedings it may be necessary, in order to conform to the judicial protection of the rights of the accused, to suspend internal proceedings pending the conclusion of the criminal proceedings.
Retaliation against an individual who brings a complaint, participates in an investigation, or pursues a criminal charge is unequivocally prohibited.
Students, faculty members, and staff members should understand that apparently consensual sexual relationships, particularly those between individuals of unequal status, may be or become a violation of this policy. Anyone who engages in a sexual relationship with a person over whom he or she has any degree of power or authority must understand that the degree to which such a relationship is truly mutually consensual can and may be questioned. Consensual relationships are also governed by a separate University policy.
II. Definition of Sexual Assault
Under Wisconsin law:second degree sexual assault includes sexual contact or sexual intercourse with another person
third degree sexual assault is sexual intercourse with a person without the consent of that person
fourth degree sexual assault is sexual contact with a person without the consent of that person
Sexual intercourse includes cunnilingus, fellatio, anal intercourse, or any other intrusion, however slight, of any part of a person's body or of any object into the genital or anal opening either by the accused or upon the accused's instruction; the emission of semen is not required.
Sexual contact means any intentional touching, either directly or through clothing, by the use of any body part or object, of the victim's "intimate parts" if that intentional touching is either for the purpose of sexually degrading or sexually humiliating the victim, or sexually arousing or gratifying the accused, or if the touching contains elements of actual or attempted battery.
All members of the Lawrence community should understand that forced intercourse or other unwelcome or unwanted sexual contact, whether it involves a stranger or an acquaintance, is sexual assault. The use of alcohol or other drugs by either party is not an extenuating circumstance and will not mitigate the responsibility of a person found to have committed sexual assault.
III. Immediate Action, Information, and Support Services
Individuals who have been sexually assaulted should seek immediate medical, emotional, or other assistance. Assistance is available on or near the campus by calling the Appleton Police, Lawrence Security, Appleton Medical Center, St. Elizabeth Hospital, or the Sexual Assault Crisis Center. Upon request, Lawrence Security will assist in securing transportation to the hospital, or contact the Appleton Police. The Dean of Students' Office or Security can provide assistance with concerns about physical safety or the need for alternative housing.
Students who are victims of sexual assault may also wish to seek confidential counseling or support from the University Health and Counseling Center or the public Sexual Assault Crisis Center. Individuals who feel they may have committed sexual assault may also seek confidential assistance from the University Health and Counseling Center or the Sexual Assault Crisis Center.
In Appleton, in a case where the victim is a minor, University personnel, including confidential sources of support and counseling, are required by state law to report suspected or threatened sexual assault to the Outagamie County Child Protective Service.
Sexual assault is a criminal offense as well as a violation of University policy. Individuals who are sexually assaulted are urged to contact the police and to seek immediate medical attention. If a student, faculty member, or staff member is charged with criminal sexual assault, whether or not the sexual assault is committed against another student, faculty member, or staff member, or on property owned or rented by Lawrence, the President or his or her designee will determine as quickly as possible whether the protection of the community and any or all of its members requires his or her action. If such action is required, the President or his or her designee will immediately take that action, which may include invoking the President's reserved powers to separate the individual so charged from the community pending a hearing under the appropriate University policies.
A student, faculty member, or staff member who is not a minor and who believes she or he may be a victim of sexual assault, but has not decided whether to make a formal complaint, may discuss the situation with the Consultant, a Dean, a designated Contact Person, a staff Department Head, or a staff or faculty member of the Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault Resource Board (the "Resource Board," see Section VI), with the confidence that that discussion will not necessarily lead to further action under this policy unless the victim so chooses. Such further action may consist of a formal complaint under this policy or an informal resolution. Resource Board members are prepared to discuss alternative solutions to situations. When the possible victim is a minor, however, University personnel are required by state law to report suspected or threatened sexual assault to public authorities. With the same exceptions for minors, student consultations with the staff of the Health and Counseling Center are held completely confidential.
In all such conversations, members of the Resource Board and the consultant will explain the options available to victims under this policy. Other members of the University community engaged in such a conversation by a possible victim of sexual assault should refer that person to a member or members of the Resource Board and/or to the Consultant.
University authorities responding to formal complaints of sexual assault will in all cases inform victims of the options of criminal prosecution; of medical assistance; of the internal complaint process; of alternative housing assignments; of confidential counseling; and, for students, of ways they may receive academic assistance. In addition, University authorities will provide assistance in preserving materials which are relevant to the internal complaint process and will, at the direction of the Appleton Police, provide assistance in obtaining, securing, and maintaining evidence for criminal prosecution.
IV. Internal Complaint Process
Once a formal complaint of sexual assault is made, the University undertakes to implement the procedures set forth in this policy as expeditiously as possible in order to achieve a fair, thorough, and prompt resolution of the complaint.
The Consultant, an officer who is not a full-time member of the University community and who has professional training and experience in a field or fields relevant to the values of the community in this regard, is responsible for the investigation of formal complaints of sexual assault and for the mediation of cases engendered by such complaints whenever such mediation is appropriate and acceptable to the complainant, the accused, and the University. The Consultant is appointed by and responsible to the President. The University shall maintain for a reasonable period of time a file on each complaint assigned to the consultant, including the Consultant's report and a record of the disposition of the complaint.
A student, faculty member, or staff member who desires to file a formal complaint of sexual assault must contact the Consultant, or a Vice President, or a Dean, or a member of the Resource Board, or a residence hall director, or University security. Any of these individuals to whom a formal complaint is made will report the complaint to the appropriate University authority who will instruct the Consultant to investigate the complaint. If a complaint is made to anyone else, the complainant risks the possibility that it will not come to the attention of the appropriate University authorities and may, therefore, not be acted upon. (When the accused is a student, the "appropriate University authority" is the Dean of Students; when the accused is a faculty member, the "appropriate University authority" is the Dean of the Faculty; when the accused is a member of the staff, the "appropriate University authority" is the Vice President for Business Affairs and Administration. If the appropriate University authority is himself or herself the accused or the complainant, either of the other two officers here designated will assume the responsibility of pursuing the complaint.) Complaints of sexual assault made by visitors to the campus will be assigned to the jurisdiction of the appropriate University authority designated by agreement of the three officers listed above.
Every complaint that sexual assault has been committed by a student, faculty member, or staff member against any student, faculty member, staff member, or visitor will be investigated by the Consultant. At the request of the victim, University authorities will also notify the local police of the sexual assault. When the Consultant concludes her or his investigation, a summary of the report of the investigation, containing all information pertinent to the investigation, will be made available to the complainant, the accused, and the appropriate University authority. If the Consultant concludes that this policy has been violated, the appropriate University authority will take prompt and responsive action.
In all cases, both the complainant and the accused have the right to appeal the decision and action taken by the appropriate University authority. Hearings shall be convened as expeditiously as possible in response to such appeals; they shall be conducted by boards constituted as follows:
Student members of Hearing Boards will be chosen from among the members of the Judicial Board. Faculty members of Hearing Boards will be chosen from among the members of the Faculty Grievance Committee. Staff members of Hearing Boards will be chosen from among the members of an appropriate organization decided by the staff.
Each of the principals (the complainant and the accused) in a case before a Hearing Board has the right to identify no more than one member of the Hearing Board she or he prefers not be a member. Any member of the Hearing Board so identified after the members of the Hearing Board have been named but before the hearing begins, will be replaced by another person from the pool from which the original member was chosen.
Hearing Boards are part of the internal University procedure. They are created by the authority of the University to deal with complaints arising from within the University against members of the University community. In all cases that go before a Hearing Board, both the complainant and the accused, respectively, will have a right to be accompanied by a person of her or his own choosing, except that neither the President, nor persons listed as "appropriate University authorities," nor the Consultant, nor a member of the Resource Board may be that person. The person accompanying the complainant or the accused will not participate in the hearing, but may provide the person he or she accompanies with moral support, informal advice, and comfort. Specifically, neither the complainant nor the accused may be represented before the Hearing Board by an attorney-at-law.
The University Counsel, acting as an officer of the University, may be present as an advisor to the Hearing Board. She or he will not participate in the hearing.
If a complaint of sexual assault is made against a student, the Consultant will provide a summary of the report of his or her investigation to the complainant, the accused, and the Dean of Students. Upon receiving the report, and upon completion of her or his further investigation if that is warranted, the Dean of Students will determine whether a violation of this policy has occurred.
The University's interest is in regulating the behavior of its students so they do not cause harm to other students, faculty members, or staff members, or to the University. Therefore, after determining that this policy has been violated, the Dean of Students will impose sanctions which may include (but are not limited to) counseling, chemical dependency evaluation, and any of the sanctions specified in the section on The Judicial System in the Student Handbook. The sanctions will be communicated in writing to the complainant and the accused.
If either the complainant or the accused appeals the decision of the dean of students, that appeal shall not result in a modification of the Dean's action while the appeal is pending. Copies of the summary of the report of the Consultant's investigation will be provided to the members of the Hearing Board for use at the hearing. If the appeal has been made by the accused, the Dean of Students or his or her designee in the Office of the Dean of Students will be responsible for explaining to the Hearing Board the Dean's decision and the sanctions imposed. Under normal circumstances, the complainant will attend relevant hearings as a witness for the Dean, and may be asked by the Dean to assist the Dean in the presentation of evidence in support of charges. If the appeal has been made by the complainant, he or she will present to the Hearing Board his or her own arguments against the decision of the Dean of Students and the sanctions imposed, and the Dean of Students will explain those decisions and sanctions.
The Hearing Board will affirm or modify the decision of, or the sanctions imposed by, the Dean of Students. The action of the Hearing Board will be communicated in writing to the complainant and the accused.
A complaint of sexual assault made against a member of the staff, will be referred to the Vice President for Business Affairs and Administration, who will review the summary of the Consultant's report. If the Vice President for Business Affairs and Administration determines that a violation of this policy has occurred, he or she will take appropriate disciplinary action. Any sanctions imposed will be communicated to the accused and the complainant in writing.
A complaint of sexual assault made against a member of the faculty will be referred to the Dean of the Faculty, who will review the summary of the Consultant's report. If the Dean of the Faculty determines that a violation of this policy has occurred, he or she will take appropriate disciplinary action. Any sanctions imposed will be communicated in writing to the accused and the complainant.
In all cases where the investigation or hearing concludes that a violation of this policy has occurred, the University will impose prompt and appropriate disciplinary measures. In cases where the violator is a member of the staff or of the faculty, "appropriate disciplinary measures" may include (but are not limited to) counseling, chemical dependency evaluation, a warning, or suspension or termination of employment. In cases where the violator is a student, "appropriate disciplinary measures" may include (but are not limited to) counseling, chemical dependency evaluation, and any of the sanctions specified in the section on The Judicial System in the Student Handbook.
The decision of a Hearing Board will be communicated in writing to the complainant, the accused, and the appropriate University authority. Both the complainant and the accused have the right to appeal the decision to the President, whose decision on any such appeal is final, except in the case of dismissal of a faculty member, in which case the faculty member has recourse to the procedures for a final appeal set forth in the Faculty Handbook.
V. Support Services
The University Health and Counseling Center provides confidential counseling services or referrals to other counseling services which may be used by individuals who feel they have been sexually assaulted.
VI. Education and Training
In an effort to prevent and eliminate sexual assault, the University will distribute this policy to every student, staff member, and faculty member. Students, faculty, and staff will be offered and encouraged to attend training sessions on the subject of sexual assault. Members of the Judicial Board, the Faculty Grievance Committee, and the staff organization cited above, the bodies from which the membership of Hearing Boards will be drawn, also will receive training from appropriate individuals about sexual assault. In addition, this policy will be reiterated at appropriate opportunities in meetings, classes, programs, and publications.
The Sexual Harassment and Sexual Assault Resource Board, consisting of the Associate Dean of the Faculty, no fewer than three faculty members, the Associate Dean of Students for Residence Life, the Alcohol Education Coordinator (ex officio), no fewer than three staff members, and no fewer than two student members, all appointed by the President, will advise the University on matters relating to sexual harassment and sexual assault. (This is the same Resource Board referred to in the Sexual Harassment Policy .) Its members will receive appropriate training about issues related to sexual assault and sexual harassment. The Resource Board will work with the Consultant, the staff of the University Counseling Center, and other appropriate agencies and individuals to develop educational and preventive programs and activities.
The Resource Board will receive reports from the Consultant regarding action taken in response to complaints of sexual assault. The Consultant, working with the Resource Board, will have primary responsibility for reporting such actions at least once per year to the Lawrence community, doing so in general terms that do not identify individuals. The Consultant will work with the Resource Board to insure that the University's judicial and educational efforts are consistent and coordinated.
The Resource Board will recommend to the President changes in procedures described in this policy, which the President may authorize at his or her discretion, subject to the review of the University Faculty and the Board of Trustees.