Resources for Students to Address Discrimination and Harassment Concerns

October 4, 2017

The following message was sent to members of the Yale community by Kimberly M. Goff-Crews, Secretary and Vice President for Student Life 

Yale is a community committed to diversity and inclusion; we educate aspiring leaders — diverse in identities and ideas — who will serve across the world, in all sectors of society. Yale is a place to explore the breadth of your intellectual curiosity, the depth of your humanity, and the rigors of purposeful scholarship and creative practice.
   
Discrimination and harassment are contrary to the community standards and ideals of our university: discrimination and harassment harm individuals and their education, and disrupt the free exchange of ideas central to all our lives as scholars and practitioners. 
 
With your encouragement and support — and the efforts of deans, faculty, and staff — the university has worked continuously to improve campus climate, communication, and the tools available to anyone who experiences or witnesses discrimination or harassment.
 
I am pleased to announce further steps toward our shared goal of creating a more inclusive Yale, including the relaunch of the Resources for Students to Address Discrimination and Harassment Concerns website. This website highlights new and existing resources, offices, and individuals who can provide you with guidance if you have experienced or witnessed discrimination or harassment, as well as assistance with any informal or formal complaint you wish to make.

New resources include:

Dean’s Designees: In feedback, you told us that you would value individualized support in the context of your own school, and so Yale College and the graduate and professional schools all now have dedicated point-persons to whom students may express their concerns about any form of discrimination and harassment.

The updated Bulldog Mobile (LiveSafe) app: The app continues to provide an effective way to communicate with Yale Police. You can also now use it to connect with staff in relevant university offices about issues of harassment and discrimination. You can communicate anonymously with the SHARE Center and Yale Police, and submit confidential messages to the Title IX Office and Office for Equal Opportunities Programs.

If you would like to talk with someone confidentially about sexual misconduct or gender discrimination, I encourage you to reach out directly to a Title IX coordinator. The redesigned Sexual Misconduct Response & Prevention website highlights Title IX and other resources.

All these resources, offices, and individuals are available to you, whether to help address a specific incident or an issue of campus climate, a seemingly small question or a major concern. Please reach out.

My thanks again to the many students who have led efforts to improve our campus climate, to Chief Ronnell Higgins and the university’s Title IX Office for expanding the capabilities of the Bulldog Mobile (LiveSafe) app, and to the deans, faculty, and staff working to make a more inclusive Yale.