Harassment Information

Harassment Information

Messiah University is committed to creating an atmosphere of dignity and respect in which students and employees can pursue their educational and employment opportunities free from discrimination, harassment, or retaliation.

Likewise, Messiah University takes seriously its responsibilities under state and federal law to actively prohibit and address complaints of misconduct such as harassment promptly.

*"An updated harassment policy is working through University approval processes for the fall of 2026.*

Harassment Policy Report Harassment 

What is harassment?

Harassment is unwelcome conduct that significantly interferes with the educational and/or employment opportunities of Messiah University community members.

Harassment may be expressed through behavior that creates a hostile educational or employment environment, or quid pro quo behavior (in which a University employee or agent conditions educational benefits or participation on a person's submission to unwelcome conduct).

The key elements of harassment include: 

Harassment is fundamentally inconsistent with the values of integrity, dignity, mutual respect, and personal responsibility that define the community expectations of Messiah University.

As such, harassment is prohibited across all University-related activities, extending to activities conducted off campus, whether occurring before, during, or after official events. The University expects all members of its community to uphold these standards and to take an active role in preventing, reporting, and addressing behavior that may be harassment.

Harassment may constitute a violation of state and/or federal law, depending on the nature of the misconduct.

Both employees and students may report experiencing harassment or may be accused of harassing others.

Addressing harassment is essential; communities that interrupt misconduct before it escalates better prevent egregious harm from occurring. The specific definitions of harassment and the procedures to address harassment are determined by 1) the nature of the harassment and 2) the roles of the individuals involved.

The Nature of Harassment

The nature of harassment describes the characteristics of a group or person’s identity that are being targeted or discriminated against. Different federal and state laws determine these characteristics, impacting both the definitions and processes that may be applied to address the harassment.

Unique characteristics and their corresponding laws or regulations:

The roles of the individuals involved describe the relationship between the individual(s) that alleges having experienced harassment (identified as victims or complainants) and the individual(s) accused of harassing others (identified as the accused or respondents).

This relationship helps identify the rights and processes that apply to the parties, whether employment and/or education is being impacted, and the power dynamics that are present in the harassment.

Rights of employees experiencing harassment and rights of students experiencing harassment vary according to the laws that protect each of these roles in our community.

The University policy describes the processes used to address harassment allegations that do not constitute a potential violation under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.

Reporting Concerns of Harassment

University community members that wish to file a complaint of harassment may do so in whichever manner best addresses the concerns of that individual. 

Concerns and complaints may be submitted online: www.messiah.edu/incident. This form also provides an anonymous reporting option. 

To report an allegation of harassment in person (or to address questions about incidents of harassment, misconduct or discrimination), contact one of the following University resources: 

To hear reporting and response options confidentially or to submit an anonymous report in person, community members at Messiah University may contact:

Prevention and Education

Education around preventing, identifying, and reporting harassment in the Messiah community takes several forms—digital education modules, in-person training and workshops, and tabling events on campus.

To learn more about how to identify, prevent and report harassment, check out the FAQs.

You can request a training or education for your department, class, or group by contacting one of the resources listed below.