Student Handbook 2024-25 > Sexual and Interpersonal Misconduct and Title IX Policy and Procedure > VII. Additional considerations

VII. Additional considerations

A. Privacy and Confidentiality: Treatment of Reported Information.

The College will not disclose the identity of a Complainant or a Respondent, except as necessary to carry out a disciplinary process or as permitted under state or federal law.

Requests for Confidentiality or No Investigation.

Olin will act with discretion with regards to the privacy of individuals and the sensitivity of the situation when receiving a report of conduct that could fall within the prohibitions of the Sexual and Interpersonal Misconduct Policy.

There are certain circumstances in which Olin has a broader obligation to the community and may not be able to abide by: a) an individual’s request for complete confidentiality or b) an individual’s request that Olin not investigate a matter. Because either such a request could impact Olin’s ability to appropriately address and resolve the behavior in question, Olin will weigh these requests carefully. Where the College has Notice of Prohibited Conduct but the Complainant is not requesting that the College initiate a resolution process, and/or in the absence of a complaint or the withdrawal of any or all of the allegations in a complaint, and in the absence or termination of an informal resolution process, the Title IX Coordinator will make a fact-specific determination regarding whether to initiate an investigative resolution process. To make this determination, the Title IX Coordinator will consider, at a minimum, the following factors: the Complainant’s request that the College not proceed with the initiation of a complaint; the Complainant’s reasonable safety concerns; the risk that additional acts of misconduct would occur if a complaint is not initiated; the severity of the alleged misconduct, including whether the misconduct, if established, would require the removal of a respondent from campus or imposition of another disciplinary sanction to end the misconduct and prevent its recurrence; the age and relationship of the parties, including whether the respondent is an employee; the scope of the alleged misconduct, including information suggesting a pattern, ongoing misconduct, or misconduct alleged to have impacted multiple individuals; the availability of evidence to assist a decisionmaker in determining whether misconduct occurred; and whether the College could end the alleged misconduct and prevent its recurrence without initiating a complaint.

If, after considering these and other relevant factors, the Title IX Coordinator determines that the conduct as alleged presents an imminent and serious threat to the health or safety of the Complainant or other person, or that the conduct as alleged prevents the College from ensuring equal access on the basis of sex to its education program or activity, the Title IX Coordinator may initiate or continue an investigative resolution process as described below. The College will seek to respect the request of the Complainant and where it cannot do so, it will consult with the Complainant and keep the Complainant informed about the chosen course of action. In such situations, prior to initiating or continuing investigative resolution, the Title IX Coordinator will notify the Complainant and appropriately address reasonable concerns about the Complainant’s safety or the safety of others, including by providing supportive measures.

The College will not compel the Complainant to participate in an investigation where the Complainant has requested that the College not pursue the investigation. In all cases, the final decision on whether, how, and to what extent the College will maintain the Complainant’s confidentiality or conduct an investigation, and whether other measures will be taken in connection with a report of a violation of this policy, rests with the Title Coordinator. Note: If the Title IX Coordinator does initiate an investigation and a Complainant is known, the Coordinator will provide the Complainant all notices and opportunities to respond to evidence that are provided by the procedures outlined below, even if the Complainant is not actively involved, unless the Complainant requests specifically in writing that this not occur.

The College’s ability to investigate and pursue disciplinary action may be limited when the identity of the Respondent is unknown or when a Complainant requests that their identity not be revealed to the Respondent.

If the Title IX Coordinator does not initiate or continue investigative resolution, they will take other appropriate, prompt, and effective steps, in addition to steps necessary to effectuate the remedies provided to an individual Complainant, if any, to ensure that the misconduct does not continue within the College’s education program or activity.

Disclosure of Sexual Misconduct at Public Awareness Events.

When a the Title IX Coordinator is notified of information about conduct that reasonably may constitute sex-based harassment as defined by this Policy that was provided by a person during a public event to raise awareness about sex-based harassment that was held on the College’s  campus or through an online platform sponsored by the College, the College will not act in response to the information, unless it indicates an imminent and serious threat to the health or safety of a Complainant, any students, employees, or other persons. However, in all cases the College will use this information to inform its efforts to prevent sex-based harassment, including by providing tailored training to address alleged sex-based harassment in a particular part of its education program or activity or at a specific location when information indicates there may be multiple incidents of sex-based harassment.

B. Reporting and Duty to Report Sexual and Interpersonal Misconduct, Information Provided by College Upon Receipt of Reports, and Retaliation

The College views reports of Prohibited Conduct as oral or written notification of that conduct, in circumstances where the Complainant or reporting party is not requesting that the College take specific action at that time in response to the report. Complaints, by contrast, are an oral or written request to the College that objectively can be understood as a request for the College to investigate and make a determination about alleged Prohibited Conduct. Anyone who wishes to report that they or another Olin College community member has or may have experienced Prohibited Conduct as defined above should contact through the following means either:

Justin M. Bell, JD (he/him)Title IX Coordinator- Director of Non-discrimination Initiatives

Office: MH 323 Phone: 781-292-2408 email: jbell@olin.edu,

Guilene Prepetit (she/her)Deputy Title IX Coordinator & Associate Director of Talent and Engagement-  Office: CC 332 Phone: 781.292.2411 email: gprepetit@olin.edu  or

Olin College Department of Public Safety- Phone: 781-239-5555 email: publicsafety@olin.edu

Reports of Prohibited Conduct should be made to the Title IX Coordinator and/or Public Safety regardless of where the conduct occurred (e.g., off-campus or on-campus). The Title IX Coordinator and/or Public Safety will provide information to the individual who reportedly experienced the Prohibited Conduct on where to receive immediate emergency assistance following an incident of Prohibited Conduct, which shall include, but not be limited to:

• information related to preserving evidence and contact information for seeking medical treatment on campus, if available, and off campus;
• descriptions of the types of counseling and health, safety, academic and other support services available from the College within the local community or region or through a local community-based rape crisis center or domestic violence program, including contact information;
• information on the rights of students and employees to:

(A) notify or decline to notify law enforcement, including Olin College, local and/or state police, of an alleged incident of Prohibited Conduct;

(B) receive assistance from College authorities in making any such notification;

(C) obtain a court-issued protective order or a College-issued no-contact order against an alleged perpetrator of the sexual misconduct; and

(D) concurrently utilize the College’s process for investigating sexual misconduct complaints and any external civil or criminal processes available to the student or employee;

• College-based supportive measures reasonably available from the College, which shall include, but not be limited to, options for changing academic, living, campus transportation or working arrangements in response to an alleged incident of Prohibited Conduct, regardless of where the conduct occurred or whether such conduct occurred outside of the College’s programs or activities, and regardless of whether a complaint is filed in accordance with the College’s policy for resolving complaints, how to request such measures and the process to have any such measures reviewed; and

• Procedures for students or employees to notify the institution that a protective order has been issued under state or federal law and the institution’s responsibilities upon receipt of such notice; College will work in good faith to implement the requirements of judicially-issued protective orders and similar orders, to the extent that doing so is within its authority.

All College employees who have not been specifically designated as Confidential Employees as described above are Mandatory Reporters who are obligated by College policy to disclose information about conduct that reasonably may constitute Prohibited Conduct to the Title IX Coordinator.

In addition, Olin employees who are designated as campus security authorities (CSAs) for the purposes of the Clery Act must provide Public Safety with non-identifying statistical information regarding all reported incidents of Clery crimes (including, but not limited to, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, stalking and hate crimes). Any questions about the reporting or confidentiality status of an individual should be directed to the Title IX Coordinator.

Confidential Employees as described above are not obligated to report identifying information about behavior that may implicate this Policy without the consent of the individual who supplied the information in question, and may otherwise keep information confidential as permitted and/or required by law. However, these confidential resources are instructed to inform individuals of their rights to file a complaint under this Policy and may assist in that process. Confidential resources may, consistent with their legal obligation and ethical requirements, provide limited statistical information about incidents without revealing personally identifiable information regarding the identity of the individuals involved to the Title IX Coordinator.

C. Amnesty

In order to encourage students to report Prohibited Conduct without fear that an investigation could reveal their violation of College alcohol and drug-related policies, students will be provided with amnesty in connection with reporting Prohibited Conduct, which means a reprieve from disciplinary action for their own personal consumption of drugs or alcohol ancillary to a report or complaint of Prohibited Conduct. Students who report Prohibited Conduct, either as a Complainant or a witness, will not be subject to disciplinary action by the College for their violation of the College’s student conduct rules. The College may decide not to grant amnesty when a report or complaint of Prohibited Conduct is not made in good faith or the violation was egregious. An egregious violation shall include, but not be limited to, taking an action that places the health and safety of another person at risk.