PROVIDENCE – Citing the need to strengthen its ability to address reports of bias, discrimination and harassment occurring on campus, Brown University has created a new Office of Equity Compliance and Reporting in the Ivy League institution’s division of campus life.
In a letter Wednesday to the campus community, Brown President Christina H. Paxson wrote that such reporting and investigating of discrimination and harassment claims, as well as staff support, will be shifted to the new office from the Office of Equity and Diversity. With this shift, such incidents will now be reported to the new office through one of two streamlined intake forms, Paxson wrote. One report, she said, will focus on alleged incidents of bias, discrimination and harassment, and the other will focus on gender discrimination and sexual violence.
Brown Vice President for Campus Life and Student Services Eric Estes will lead the new office, Paxson said.
Paxson noted the decision to create this new office was made because it “has become clear” that the 2023 U.S. Supreme Court decision that
struck down affirmative action in college admissions and the “sharp rise” in concerns over the campus’ climate affected by the violence within the Middle East that there are “opportunities to build” on Brown’s strengths for cultivating “a diverse and inclusive campus.”
In November,
20 university students were arrested for demanding Brown’s support for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and that the administration divest from private defense contractors who do business with Israel. The charges against the students were dropped,
but tensions on campus had remained high.
She also wrote as it is “critical” that Brown’s campus community are “educated about these issues and understand how to report incidents.”
“As an academic community committed to diversity and inclusion, Brown stands firmly against any harassment, discrimination, and hate,” Paxson wrote. “These enhancements will help to further our goal of ensuring that Brown remains a caring and supportive community where all members can be safe and thrive.”
The office was also formed after Brown, according to a report from the university-based newspaper The Brown Daily Herald, has 14 pending investigations against it by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights. Of these investigations, three were opened last month, one pertaining to an alleged Title VI violation, and the two others on alleged disability-based discrimination and retaliation, according to the publication.
Paxson says campus community members will not need to determine how to categorize an incident before reporting it to the new office. Instead, office staff, Paxson wrote, will review the reports and the reporting individual will receive a follow-up call from the appropriate investigative unit.
Any such reports can be submitted through the
office’s incident website.
James Bessette is the PBN special projects editor, and also covers the nonprofit and education sectors. You may reach him at Bessette@PBN.com. You may also follow him on Twitter at @James_Bessette.
