Bias Reporting

Relevant Excerpt

Bias Response 

St. Olaf College is committed to fostering a welcoming community for all students, faculty, and staff. An informed awareness of the climate on campus is an important part of the college’s efforts to create a supportive academic and residential environment for our community. The college does not tolerate any bias incidents toward its community members. The college expects its students, faculty, and staff to refrain from acts of intolerance directed at other members, including (but not limited to) harassment, hate speech, and discrimination. ...

What is a bias incident?
A bias incident is any behavior or actions directed against a person or property that includes the use of slurs expressing prejudice on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, age, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity and expression, but is not a criminal offense.

Examples of Bias Incidents Include:

• Using offensive language or slang based on a person’s identity
• Offensive social media post
• Tampering with property
• Violent acts

What are microaggressions?
Microaggressions are brief, common exchanges that are often automatic and unintentional. They include verbal, behavioral, and environmental indignities that communicate hostile, derogatory, or negative insults to a targeted group or individuals based on race, color, color, national or ethnic origin, age, religion, disability, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity and expression.

Examples of Microaggressions include:

• Comments that single out a person based on their identity
• Deliberately not using a transgender person’s preferred pronouns
• Excluding a person due to religious practices

The Bias Response Team contains members of our community and  some of the members serve in an advisory role  with a goal of confirming that each case is addressed.

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What happens when a bias incident report is submitted?

1. The Director of Equal Opportunity consults with the General Counsel to determine bias and forwards the report to the Bias Response Team.
2. The Director of Equal Opportunity contacts the reporting party to acknowledge that the bias incident report has been received.
3. The report is sent to the appropriate individuals (below) to manage the case. Appropriate parties are contacted about the case and the cases are investigated. The College’s General Counsel is involved at times due to the severity of the case.
4. Individuals managing cases will report back to the advisory group with the result of their cases at the end of each month.
5. Each report will indicate whether the incident is bias and be part of the College’s tracking and reporting.