Community Interest

The University's response to a report of sexual misconduct is largely driven by the wishes and preferences of the person affected by the sexual misconduct (the "impacted party") to the extent consistent with the University’s commitment to protecting the broader welfare of the University Community. The Office for Institutional Equity and Title IX will make all reasonable attempts to comply with the impacted party’s preferences with respect to confidentiality, investigation, and resolution, and in most instances, will be able to comply with those preferences. However, the Office for Institutional Equity and Title IX will evaluate the allegations of each report to determine whether circumstances may exist that suggest a threat to the safety of the community, or that would otherwise be inconsistent with the University's responsibilities to community members. In such limited circumstances, the University may be required to pursue further investigation and/or resolution, even if contrary to the wishes of the impacted party. Such rare circumstances are referred to as "overriding community interests," and would include, for example:

• significant violence and/or use or threat of use of weapon;
• repeated allegations against or findings of policy violations by the same individual;
• multiple individuals participating in incident; and/or
• impacted party is a minor.