Student Sexual Misconduct Policy
Colorado College believes that students have the right to be free from unwanted sexual contact, coercion, abuse, force and violence or threats of violence. The college will not tolerate sexual misconduct between students, including “acquaintance” or “date” rape, or other forms of intimate partner violence. The purpose of this policy is to prevent sexual misconduct from occurring by educating students about behaviors that may constitute sexual misconduct. Where sexual misconduct does occur, this policy guides affected students to support services and resources and explains the procedures for reporting and adjudicating incidents of sexual misconduct.
The college defines “sexual misconduct” as any non-consensual sexual contact between students, ranging from unwanted sexual touching to sexual intercourse. Sexual misconduct also includes unwelcome sexual conduct that does not include physical contact. Examples of this conduct include, but are not limited to: crude, obscene or sexually offensive gestures or unwelcome sexual comments. In other words, all sexual contact between students must be with each person’s active consent. “Active consent” means that each person involved in sexual contact not only agrees to the sexual activity but also agrees to such activity freely and knowingly. A person who has been threatened or whose judgment is substantially impaired by drugs or alcohol or by other physical or mental impairment cannot, by definition, give consent to sexual contact.
It is the responsibility of the initiator of sexual contact to obtain consent from the other person and to determine whether such consent is freely and knowingly given. Engaging in sexual contact with a person whose judgment is substantially impaired by drugs or alcohol, or who is unconscious or asleep, or giving a person drugs or alcohol with the intent to impair his or her judgment or make them unconscious is a violation of this policy. The initiator of sexual contact will be found in violation of this policy if it is determined that he or she knew or should have known that the other person’s judgment was substantially impaired at the time consent was obtained or sexual contact was initiated.
Silence or non-communication should never be interpreted as consent. The best practice is to obtain or give consent verbally in order to avoid misunderstandings inherent in non-verbal communication. A verbal NO or physical resistance, no matter how indecisive or weak or passive, always means NO. If there is any doubt about whether a person’s judgment is substantially mpaired or whether a person who initially agreed to sexual contact has changed his/her mind, sexual contact should not be initiated or should be stopped immediately.
Incidents involving intimate partner violence will also proceed through this process. The college defines intimate partner violence as violence occurring between people who are dating or consider themselves to be a couple at present or in the past.
The college reserves the right to take whatever measures it deems necessary and appropriate to respond to a charge of sexual misconduct in order to protect students’ safety, physical and mental well-being, and individual rights. Such measures include, but are not limited to, immediate modification of living arrangements, summary removal from campus pending a hearing, and reporting to the local police. Not all forms of sexual misconduct will be deemed to be equally serious offenses, and the college reserves the right to impose differing sanctions, Student Sexual Misconduct Policy ranging from education to warnings to probation, suspension or expulsion. The college will consider the concerns and rights of both the complainant and the person accused (the respondent) of sexual misconduct.
Support Resources and Options
If you believe that you have been the victim of sexual misconduct, you have a number of choices in terms of support, information and remedy. The following are resources you may contact for assistance and options you may choose to pursue.
First Response
The resources listed here are the most common points of contact as a first or immediate response to a suspected incident of sexual misconduct:
- Sexual Assault Response Coordinator (SARC)
The SARC can be accessed by calling x8101 on campus, or 227-8101 off campus, or 660-8915, or Boettcher Health Center at x6384. A CC staff member, experienced in working with victims of sexual assault and with educational programs designed to prevent misconduct, serves as initial confidential point of contact for students who want assistance from the college in handling their situation. - VAT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 321-0828
A student led organization whose members can support you and act as a source of information and referral. A VAT member is available 24 hours a day to take your call and can explain your options in clear terms, and help you in the decision-making process. VAT members are not required to report your identity to the college. - Colorado College Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ext. 6707
CC security personnel are here to help you. The officer can make contact with a VAT member, college staff, and the Colorado Springs police. All calls to CC security are reported to selected college staff on a limited, need to know basis. - Boettcher Health Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ext. 6384
Nurses, physicians and counselors are available to assist you in a confidential manner with your medical and emotional needs. They are not required to reveal your identity to other college staff. - Chaplain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ext. 6638
The college chaplain is a confidential resource who can assist with emotional and spiritual needs. They are not required to reveal your identity to other college staff.
Follow-up Response
After you initiate the first response, you may continue down three different paths for responding to sexual misconduct. You may take any one of these paths or all three may be pursued; the choice is yours.
Informal Support System
The informal support system provides students an opportunity to make decisions about filing or defending a formal complaint in the college’s judicial system, seeking personal counseling, finding community resources to assist in dealing with the issue and, possibly, filing criminal assault charges. The informal reporting process provides one-on-one counseling for all parties involved in a sexual misconduct complaint. This process is initiated by contacting any of the resources/individuals described above. Levels of confidentiality vary based upon the individual or group you choose to contact.
Formal College Discipline System
When the respondent is a Colorado College student, the complainant is encouraged to pursue formal college discipline charges. The discipline system is an internal administrative process and can be used to establish violations of the code of student conduct, but not to determine whether a criminal act has been committed. When an individual believes that a crime has been committed, it is recommended that charges be filed with local police. College judicial sanctions range from education to warnings to probation and suspension to expulsion. Typical sanctions are disciplinary probation, suspension for a period of time, referral for an education program, and/or counseling. Although there is no time limit on the filing of charges, prompt reporting is likely to result in a more satisfactory investigation because people’s memories are fresh and witnesses are more readily available.
In making the decision whether to file formal disciplinary charges, the complainant may want to confer with the SARC, VAT members or other campus staff. In all cases of alleged sexual misconduct, the respondent and the complainant will be informed of the outcome. Each student will have an advisor who will assist him/her in preparing a formal complaint and/or responding to such a complaint. Once a formal written complaint is filed, the matter goes to an investigator who investigates the allegations and reports to the adjudicator. Following the investigation, the adjudicator adjudicates the matter. Appeals of the investigative report or the adjudication of the matter will be granted on a limited basis, and are heard by the Sexual Misconduct Appeal Board. The advisors for either student may continue to assist the student throughout the investigative, adjudication and appeal phase.
Colorado Springs Police
Colorado College encourages students to report sexual assaults to the local police. You may report a sexual assault to the police as well as seek internal college support and/or disciplinary action. Colorado College Security is available to arrange a meeting place for your initial contact with the police and, if you wish, a representative of the college will accompany you. The college has no control over the investigative and legal process that may result when you report a crime to the police, and is not required to wait until an external investigation is finished before pursuing internal disciplinary processes. Such internal and external processes can occur simultaneously.
Frequently Asked Questions and Answers
Here are some of the most commonly asked questions regarding Colorado College’s sexual misconduct policy and procedures.
- Does the case remain confidential?
The confidentiality of all parties to a complaint of sexual misconduct will be preserved to the maximum extent possible. Under the Informal Support System, the SARC serves as a confidential resource. However, once the college receives a formal complaint of sexual misconduct from a student, or other college personnel it has an obligation to fully investigate the complaint and may disclose information pertaining to the complaint to others on a limited need to know basis. Violations of confidentiality by either the complainant or the respondent may lead to disciplinary action by the college.
In all cases of sexual misconduct in which a formal complaint is filed, the respondent will be informed of the charges and the respondent and the complainant will be informed of the outcome. In some instances, the college also may choose to make a brief announcement of the nature of the violation and the action taken, using no names. If you report an act of sexual misconduct to an officer of the college and there is evidence that a felony has occurred, local police will be notified. The college is also required by federal law to report the occurrence on campus of any of six major violent crimes, including certain sex offenses, in an annual report of campus crime statistics. This statistical report does not include personally identifiable information.
If you seek assistance from the SARC, individuals within VAT or Boettcher in dealing with a issue of sexual misconduct, these individuals are not required to report your identity to the college unless you request that they do, and therefore do serve as a confidential resource. You have the option of deciding whether to pursue a formal complaint or to withdraw a formal complaint once it has been lodged.
The college reserves the right to pursue a complaint on its own behalf without the complainant’s cooperation where it believes the health, safety or welfare of the campus community is threatened. - Will my parents be told?
Whether you are the complainant to the respondent, Colorado College’s primary relationship is to the student and not to the parent. However, in the event of major medical, disciplinary, or academic jeopardy, students are strongly encouraged to inform their parents. College officials will directly inform parents when requested to do so by a student, or in a life-threatening situation, or if a responding student has signed the acknowledgment at registration, which allows such communication. - Do I have to name the person who subjected me to sexual misconduct ?
Yes, if you want formal disciplinary action to be taken against the alleged perpetrator.
No, if you choose to respond informally and do not file a formal complaint. - What do I do if I am accused of sexual misconduct?
You may immediately want to contact someone in the campus community who can act as your advisor and/or representative. You may also contact the Associate Dean of Students and/or the college’s Legal Counsel; either one of these persons can explain the college’s procedures for dealing with sexual misconduct complaints. - Will I have to pay for counseling/or medical care?
Hospital and off-campus fees are covered according to your own insurance policy. Boettcher Health Center charges reasonable fees for care that is provided by the medical director, nursing staff and counselors. Emergency money may be available through the Director of Student Loans and Accounts (loans) and the Dean of Students (emergency grants). You may also be able to get your expenses paid from the Victim’s Compensation Fund through the local District Attorney’s office. - What do I do about legal advice?
Victims of criminal sexual assault who report an incident to the police need not retain a private attorney because legal-issues will be handled through a legal representative from the District Attorney’s office. You may want to retain an attorney if you are the accused or are considering filing a civil action against the alleged perpetrator. - What about changing residential rooms?
If you want to move, you may request a room change. Room changes under these circumstances are considered emergencies. It is the college’s policy that in emergency room changes, the student is moved to the first available suitable room. If you do not want to disclose any information about the incident, the wait list process is also an option for you. If you want the respondent to move, and believe that you have been the victim of sexual misconduct, you must be willing to pursue
Colorado College disciplinary action. You may then request that the respondent be moved immediately. The permanence of such action will be based upon the outcome of the discipline hearing. - In the definition of sexual misconduct, reference is made to a person whose judgment “is substantially impaired by drugs or alcohol.” What does this mean and what
is my responsibility for assessing the other person’s physical or mental state?
Substantial impairment generally means that a person cannot make a reasonable or rational decision about an important matter, such as the decision to have sexual intercourse with another person. Before you engage in sexual contact with another person, you are responsible for assessing whether the other person is freely and knowingly agreeing to such contact. If you know that the other person has had too much to drink or has taken drugs or if you suspect at any time that they have, you have the responsibility of refraining from sexual contact or for stopping sexual contact even if they say “yes” to sexual contact and even if such contact has already started.
Common signs of an individual having had too much to drink or having taken drugs include a strong smell of alcohol or drugs on their person, a lack of coordination (tripping, falling, banging into things), slurred speech, irrational speech, vomiting, dazed expression, dozing off unexpectedly, lack of responsiveness, lack of inhibitions, uncharacteristic behavior for that person and/or total disregard of usual social norms. Even if you do not know for sure how much a person has had to drink or if they have taken drugs because you were not with him or her when such actions occurred, you may be found responsible for violating this policy if you should have known they were substantially impaired because of behaviors they displayed or circumstances surrounding the contact such as those listed above. - What do I do about preserving evidence of a sexual assault?
Physical evidence of a criminal sexual assault must be collected within 72 hours. If you believe you have been a victim of a criminal sexual assault, you should go to Memorial Hospital Emergency Room (1400 East Boulder Street), before washing
yourself or your clothing. The Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner (a specially trained nurse) at Memorial Hospital is on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week (call the Emergency Room at 365-5221 if you first want to speak to the nurse; ER will refer
you). The police will be notified by hospital staff. The SARC, a VAT volunteer (call 321-0828) from the college or college staff can also accompany you to Memorial Hospital and College Security can provide transportation. - Will I be punished when reporting a sexual misconduct policy violation if I was
illegally using drugs or alcohol?
The severity of the infraction will determine the nature of the college’s response, but whenever possible the college will respond educationally rather than punitively to the illegal use of drugs and/or alcohol. The seriousness of sexual misconduct
is a major concern and the college does not want any of the circumstances (e.g., drug or alcohol use) to inhibit the reporting of sexual misconduct. - Will the use of drugs or alcohol by either myself or the other person affect the
outcome of a sexual misconduct judicial case?
The use of alcohol and/or drugs by either party will not diminish the respondent student’s responsibility. On the other hand, alcohol and/or drug use is likely to affect the complainant’s and the respondent’s memory and, therefore, may affect the outcome of the case. A person bringing charges of sexual misconduct must either remember the alleged incident or have sufficient circumstantial evidence to prove his/her case. If the complainant does not remember the circumstances of the
alleged incident, it may not be possible to impose sanctions on the respondent. - What should I do if I am uncertain about what happened?
If you believe that you have experienced a non-consensual sexual contact, but are unsure of whether it was a violation of the college’s sexual misconduct policy, you may contact the SARC, a member of the college’s Victim’s Assistance Team and/or Boettcher Health Center to assist you in deciding which, if any, options to pursue.