In accordance with Harvard University policy, Harvard Summer School does not discriminate against any person on the basis of, among other things, race, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, age, citizenship, national origin, ethnicity, veteran status, or disability unrelated to job or course of study requirements in admission to, access to, treatment in, or employment in its programs and activities.

Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment

The Faculty of Arts and Sciences (FAS), including the Summer School, is committed to fostering an open and supportive community that promotes learning, teaching, research, and discovery. This commitment includes maintaining a safe and healthy educational and work environment in which no member of the community is excluded from participation in, denied the benefits of, or subjected to discrimination in any University program or activity on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Because sexual and gender-based harassment—including, but not limited to, sexual violence— interfere with an individual’s ability to participate fully in or benefit fully from University programs or activities, they constitute unacceptable forms of discrimination. The FAS Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment Policy and Procedures (“Policy” and “Procedures”) forms one part of a range of measures within the FAS designed to prevent discrimination or harassment based on any protected class, including race, religion, national origin, ethnicity, citizenship, age, sex, veteran status, or disability. While this Policy focuses on sexual and gender-based harassment, it is important to recognize the ways in which all forms of discrimination reduce our potential as a community of learners and teachers.

As explained fully in the Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment Policy and Procedures of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, sexual and gender-based harassment can take many different forms and encompass a range of behaviors.

Sexual harassment is unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature, including unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal, nonverbal, graphic, or physical conduct of a sexual nature, when: (1) submission to or rejection of such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a condition of an individual’s employment or academic standing or is used as the basis for employment decisions or for academic evaluation, grades, or advancement (quid pro quo); or (2) such conduct is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive that it interferes with or limits a person’s ability to participate in or benefit from the University’s education or work programs or activities (hostile environment).

Quid pro quo sexual harassment can occur whether a person resists and suffers the threatened harm, or the person submits and avoids the threatened harm. Both situations could constitute discrimination on the basis of sex.

A hostile environment can be created by persistent or pervasive conduct or by a single severe episode. The more severe the conduct, the less need there is to show a repetitive series of incidents to prove a hostile environment. Sexual violence, including rape, sexual assault, and domestic and dating violence, is a form of sexual harassment. In addition, the following conduct may violate this Policy:

• Observing, photographing, videotaping, or making other visual or auditory records of sexual activity or nudity, where there is a reasonable expectation of privacy, without the knowledge and consent of all parties
• Sharing visual or auditory records of sexual activity or nudity without the knowledge and consent of all recorded parties and recipient(s)
• Sexual advances, whether or not they involve physical touching
• Commenting about or inappropriately touching an individual’s body
• Requests for sexual favors in exchange for actual or promised job benefits, such as favorable reviews, salary increases, promotions, increased benefits, or continued employment
• Lewd or sexually suggestive comments, jokes, innuendoes, or gestures
• Stalking

Other verbal, nonverbal, graphic, or physical conduct may create a hostile environment if the conduct is sufficiently persistent, pervasive, or severe so as to deny a person equal access to the University’s programs or activities. Whether the conduct creates a hostile environment may depend on a variety of factors, including: the degree to which the conduct affected one or more person’s education or employment; the type, frequency, and duration of the conduct; the relationship between the parties; the number of people involved; and the context in which the conduct occurred.

Conduct is unwelcome if a person (1) did not request or invite it and (2) regarded the unrequested or uninvited conduct as undesirable or offensive. That a person welcomes some sexual contact does not necessarily mean that person welcomes other sexual contact. Similarly, that a person willingly participates in conduct on one occasion does not necessarily mean that the same conduct is welcome on a subsequent occasion. Whether conduct is unwelcome is determined based on the totality of the circumstances, including various objective and subjective factors.

When a person is so impaired or incapacitated as to be incapable of requesting or inviting the conduct, conduct of a sexual nature is deemed unwelcome, provided that the alleged harasser knew or reasonably should have known of the person’s impairment or incapacity. The person may be impaired or incapacitated as a result of drugs or alcohol or for some other reason, such as sleep or unconsciousness. The alleged harasser’s impairment at the time of the incident as a result of drugs or alcohol does not, however, diminish that person’s responsibility for sexual or gender-based harassment under the FAS Policy.

Gender-based harassment is verbal, nonverbal, graphic, or physical aggression, intimidation, or hostile conduct based on sex, sex-stereotyping, sexual orientation or gender identity, but not involving conduct of a sexual nature, when such conduct is sufficiently severe, persistent, or pervasive that it interferes with or limits a person’s ability to participate in or benefit from the University’s education or work programs or activities. For example, persistent disparagement of a person based on a perceived lack of stereotypical masculinity or femininity or exclusion from an activity based on sexual orientation or gender identity also may violate this Policy.

Summer School students are subject to the recently adopted Sexual and Gender-Based Harassment Policy and Procedures of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences, which includes prohibitions on sexual misconduct as well as sexual and gender-based harassment (described under Conduct Within the Community, above). Allegations of sexual misconduct by a Summer School student will be investigated according to FAS procedures, and the Administrative Board of the Summer School will consider discipline, as appropriate. Possible sanctions for violations of FAS policy include admonishment, probation, requirement to withdraw, or suspension of a student’s registration privileges.

Harassment on Other Bases

The Summer School seeks to maintain an instructional and work environment free from racial and other forms of harassment as well. The Summer School defines racial harassment as actions on the part of an individual or group that demean or abuse another individual or group because of racial or ethnic background. Such actions may include but are not restricted to using racial epithets, making racially derogatory remarks, and using racial stereotypes.