Harassment FAQs

Harassing behavior in any manner or form, including misconduct, by anyone in the University community is expressly prohibited. This includes harassment and/or misconduct of or by individuals not directly affiliated with the University, e.g. contractors, vendors, visitors. This policy also applies to harassment and/or misconduct off-site or after normal business hours in University-related settings, including but not limited to business trips, athletic events, conferences, alumni events, and University-related social events.

1. Not inherently, but if the misconduct is both motivated by bias against a protected characteristic (such as race, color, religion, or national origin in Pennsylvania) and includes a recognized crime (such as assault or vandalism) then it probably does meet the threshold of a hate crime.
2. Information about hate crimes can found at: https://www.justice.gov/hatecrimes/laws-and-policies
3. You can always speak to local law enforcement to discuss whether your experience may be reported and pursued as a hate crime in Pennsylvania.

Yes; the victim or complainant experiencing discriminatory effects on the basis of their protected characteristic(s) is the element that creates potential harassment. The identity of the accused individual or respondent does not remove or disqualify the harm or its impact.

Yes, you can. This is the importance of intersectionality—a term first devised by Professor Kimberlé Crenshaw in 1989. Intersectionality describes how different parts of a person’s identity interact to create unique experiences of both oppression and privilege. Understanding these intersections of identity exist and matter help us care more appropriately for the individual needs within our community.

Yes, you can. Individuals may be targeted because of relationships (or perceived relationships or alliances) they share with others—this may constitute harassment even if the victim or complainant is not the person whose protected characteristic is being targeted.

For example, a student whose parent is disabled may experience harassment if other students make fun of, target, or demean individuals with disabilities in communication with or about that student.

Yes, you can. Harassment may be based on misinformation, an assumption, or perception of someone that is wrong.

This can include assumptions about religious identity based on clothing choices or head coverings, assumptions about ethic identity or national origin based on a surname or skin color, or assumptions about an invisible characteristic (such as disability or sexual orientation) based on rumors.  

Sex-based harassment can include demeaning or targeted behavior that is gendered, but not sexual.

For example, if a supervisor makes jokes about how “women should stay in the kitchen” or if a faculty member states that men are incapable of compassion and should not be permitted in certain fields; these comments are sex-based (or gendered) but are not sexual in nature.

1. It depends—all community members have the right to file a report anonymously or confidentially (unless they are a Campus Security Authority and they have knowledge of a Clery crime) but the University response may be limited.
2. A third-party (witness or concerned individual) may certainly report harassment anonymously to initiate an inquiry by the University.
3. For meaningful action that includes sanctioning an individual, the identity of a victim or complainant must be documented in order to include the necessary elements of due process.

1. You can report potential harassment by the following means:
   1. Submitting a report online at www.messiah.edu/incident
   2. Speaking to a supervisor, advisor, coach, or administrator who is required to report on your behalf.

• Contacting an administrator directly:
  1. Hannah McBride (Director of Standards and Conduct)
     hmcbride@messiah.edu or 717-796-1800 ext. 2608
  2. Doug Wood (Vice Provost of Student Success & Engagement and Dean of Students) dwood@messiah.edu or 717-796-1800 ext. 3200
  3. Inger Blount (Assistant Vice President for Human Resources)
     iblount@messiah.edu or 717-796-1800 ext. 3941
  4. Maranda Hogue (Director of Safety)
     mhogue@messiah.edu or 717-796-1800 ext. 2631
  5. Messiah University Safety Department at: 717-791-6005
  6. To hear reporting and response options confidentially or to submit an anonymous report in person, community members at Messiah University may also contact:
     1. Emma Dougherty (Prevention & Education Specialist)
        edougherty@messiah.edu, 717-796-1800, ext. 7085

1. The victim or complainant is contacted so they can speak to a University official about their options for support and response. If you are reporting for yourself, you will be able to have that conversation yourself and you will know how the report moves forward.
2. If you are reporting on behalf of a friend, student, or colleague, that individual will be contacted. Because of privacy laws, if you are not directly involved in the matter, you will not receive additional information about how the report moves forward.

1. Not necessarily. Laws and regulations prohibit discriminatory effects, not personality disputes, ordinary conflicts of opinion or perspective in school or at work, or isolated rude behavior that is unrelated to a protected characteristic.

1. Harassment can occur for a variety of different reasons—someone may be unaware of their own biases and the impact of their assumptions about other people, or someone may be intimidating or demeaning others out of their own limited health and wellbeing.
2. It is helpful to practice elements of bystander intervention—observe what is happening around you, identify options for how to intervene if a situation becomes harmful, and act! It is important to put our values into practice when interactions are disrespectful to other people in our community.