Revised Sexual and Interpersonal Misconduct Policy

Occidental College has revised its Sexual and Interpersonal Misconduct Policy in response to the U.S. Department of Education regulations issued in April that mandate how colleges and universities must respond to reports of sex-based discrimination under Title IX. The April 2024 regulations are enforced by the Department’s Office for Civil Rights and are effective today. However, due to pending litigation, the Department is currently prohibited from enforcing the 2024 Regulations at the schools included on this list. As a result, the Department’s 2020 regulations remain in effect at these schools (including Occidental College). 

In response, Oxy has chosen to implement select provisions of the 2024 regulations that do not conflict with the requirements of the 2020 regulations. This means that, for the time being, there will remain two separate processes for investigations under the Sexual and Interpersonal Misconduct Policy: a Title IX Sexual Harassment process, which addresses conduct falling under the 2020 regulations; and a Non-Title IX Misconduct process, which addresses conduct falling outside the scope of the 2020 regulations.

Revised features of the Sexual and Interpersonal Misconduct Policy include:

• Expanded definitions of sex discrimination and sex-based harassment.
• Investigations for cases involving Non-Title IX Misconduct will no longer involve a live hearing.
• Robust protections for pregnant and parenting students.

Many features of the College’s previous policies are the same, including:

• Conduct that previously constituted a violation of College policy will continue to constitute a violation of College policy.
• The definition of affirmative consent remains unchanged.
• The policy continues to apply to off-campus misconduct involving members of the Oxy community.
• The preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not) standard continues to apply.
• Individuals may still obtain supportive measures (such as No Contact Directives, academic support, or housing changes) with or without participating in an investigation.
• All non-confidential employees remain Responsible Employees and must share any reports of misconduct with the Civil Rights & Title IX Office. 
• Oxy's policy still applies to everyone: students, faculty, staff, administrators and campus visitors.

As always, Occidental College remains committed to our fundamental goal of eliminating sex-based discrimination and misconduct in the Oxy community, providing support to survivors, and ensuring a fair process for all parties.