Title VI Information & Education

Title VI protections apply to a person’s actual or perceived race, color, national origin, ethnicity, or ancestry, including:

• Physical characteristics related to race or national origin.
• Skin color or complexion.
• Country, world region, or place where the person or their ancestors come from.
• Limited English proficiency or English learner status.
• Shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics.

Title VI protections extend to people of any religion when the discrimination or harassment involves actual or perceived:

• Shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics.
• Citizenship or residency in a country with a dominant religion or distinct religious identity.
• Membership in a religion that may be perceived to exhibit such characteristics (such as Hindu, Jewish, Muslim, and Sikh individuals, among others).

Executive Order No. 81, Prohibiting Discrimination, Harassment, and Sexual Misconduct prohibits discrimination in all programs and activities, including education, employment, and patient care, based on an individual’s actual or perceived protected characteristics. Protected characteristics include but are not limited to race, color, creed, religion, national origin, citizenship, sex, pregnancy, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, genetic information, disability, or veteran status.

This order aligns and operates in coordination with other University rules, codes, orders, and policies. These include but are not limited to:

• Student Conduct Code (Chapter 478-121 WAC)
• Faculty Code
• Presidential Executive Orders and Administrative Policy Statements
• Human Resources policies and workplace rules
• Collective Bargaining Agreements
• Hospital and clinical system policies
• Other uniformly adopted University regulations or procedures

Harassing conduct that may violate Title VI and relevant University policies includes unwelcome verbal, physical, electronic, or other conduct based on an individual’s race, color, national origin, ethnicity, or ancestry. Harassing conduct may occur in many different contexts and locations, including classrooms (including virtual classes), residence halls, hallways, cafeterias, athletic fields, locker rooms, bathrooms, off campus, on the internet, and on social networking sites and apps.

Examples may include conduct that involves or is based on:

• A person’s appearance, including their skin color, physical features, or style of dress that reflects both ethnic and religious traditions or heritage.
• A person’s accent or name (including names commonly associated with a particular shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics).
• The fact that a person speaks a language other than English.

Scenarios that may create a hostile environment include:

• At a series of high-profile on-campus protests, signs and chants specifically target individuals of a certain shared ancestry. The protestors circle a building that houses academic units that study certain religions and ethnic groups and prevent students and employees from accessing the building. In response, students and employees from the targeted group make reports to the university that they feel threatened and are reluctant to go back to that building.
• A dry-erase board on a student’s dorm room is defaced with racial epithets that the student finds offensive. The student feels so unsafe that the student makes a request to move to another residence hall.
• An international student is repeatedly singled out by a professor to answer questions about the student’s country of origin and ethnic identity, which the student feels compelled to answer. As a result, other students tease and make jokes directed at that student both in class and outside of class. The student reports to the university that the professor is treating the student differently from others and the student may drop the class.

If online conduct may have the effect of denying or limiting an individual’s ability to participate in or benefit from the University’s educational programs and activities (i.e., creates a hostile environment), then the University would take action under its policies. This is true even if it occurs on a social media platform that is not owned or maintained by the University. Examples of such conduct include:

• A popular professor encourages students to follow the professor’s personal social media site and then repeatedly posts memes that students of a certain shared ancestry find offensive. A student reports this to the university and is considering withdrawing from the class.
• A Registered Student Organization is repeatedly subjected to racial epithets and threats of violence on its social media site. The members report it to the university and consider disbanding the RSO.

If off-campus conduct may have the effect of denying or limiting an individual’s ability to participate in or benefit from the University’s educational programs and activities (i.e., creates a hostile environment), then the University would take action under its policies. Examples of such conduct include:

• Students are participating in a community-based program in partnership with the university. They are subjected to repeated racial taunts and slurs by other non-university students participating in the program. The students ask to be removed from the program.
• A team of employees are participating in a retreat at a local conference center. During some of the breaks, the manager makes derogatory jokes and comments about people from a particular foreign country. Several employees find the comments offensive, express feeling unwelcome and harassed, and begin avoiding team activities. One employee reports to Human Resources that the employee no longer feels comfortable working with that manager.

Staff, faculty, and students at all UW campuses and locations, as well as any member of the public who wishes—or is required—to report discrimination, harassment, or sexual misconduct, can make a Civil Rights & Title IX Report. Individuals can report incidents they have experienced, observed, or learned about.

Individuals do not need to be the focus of discriminatory or harassing conduct to make a report and to potentially have access to University-provided supportive resources. Individuals are encouraged to report even if they are uncertain of whether the conduct would fall under Title VI or University policies.

You can learn more or make a Civil Rights & Title IX Report by visiting Make a Report. Anonymous reporting options are included.

There are several reasons an individual may want to make a report:

• To ensure the University is aware that an incident has occurred and can take action to respond to and address the incident and monitor the environment.
• To access supportive measures and resources (e.g., schedule changes, safety planning, academic adjustments).
• To learn more about available resolution options that would help restore a safe environment for impacted individuals.
• To fulfill employee requirements to share information about prohibited conduct with the Civil Rights Compliance Office.

When a report is submitted, Civil Rights Case Managers will take the following steps:

• Listen to your concerns.
• Review the details of the situation and assess for immediate safety concerns.
• Make outreach, if possible, to any impacted individuals or process partners.
• Identify what response options may be available or necessary.
• Coordinate supportive measures when appropriate.
• Provide information on resolution options.
• Offer referrals to additional resources, both on and off campus.
• Assess whether a hostile environment may have been created for the individual who reported or for others and, if so, assess necessary actions.

Actions that University personnel may take in response to a report include:

• Providing safety and support resources to those who report and/or may have been impacted by the conduct.
• Removing displays of the offensive speech (e.g., graffiti or posters).
• More closely monitoring the places or context where the conduct has occurred or is reported to be ongoing.
• Referring the matter to an investigation office, which may result in a formal investigation and disciplinary action, if warranted.
• Taking steps to prevent retaliation against those who reported or others involved, including informing all parties  in an investigation about University policies prohibiting retaliation.

More information about support and safety resources can be found at Make a Report.

Based on the totality of the circumstances, the University will assess whether the harassing conduct is:

• Unwelcome
• Based on race, color, or national origin, including shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics
• Subjectively and objectively offensive
• So severe or pervasive that it limits or denies a person’s ability to participate in or benefit from the university’s education program or activity

If the University determines that the conduct created a hostile environment for an individual or a group of individuals, University personnel may:

• Provide remedies to impacted individuals to ensure their access to the University’s programs and activities.
• Monitor and take steps to prevent any recurrence of discrimination or harassment for the individuals involved and others within the UWcommunity.
• Take action if a report of retaliation is made, such as intervening and investigating the report.
• Provide training or other interventions and support for the UW community.

As a public institution, the University must allow protected free speech while taking all necessary steps to maintain an atmosphere that is free from harassment and discrimination. As a result, actions that the University can take, such as disciplinary action for the individuals engaging in the conduct, may depend on the University’s assessment of whether the individuals’ speech is protected. More information about free speech is available on the University’s Freedom of Expression and Community Standards website.