Definitions

Retaliation is any adverse action or threatened action, as defined below, taken or made, personally,  through another person, or online, against anyone because that person reported sexual harassment or sex discrimination and/or participated in a resolution process. Retaliation includes, but is not limited to, threatening, intimidating, coercing, bullying, discriminating, harassing, or any other conduct that would reasonably discourage someone from making a report or participating in a resolution process. Spreading rumors, shunning or avoiding someone, making intentionally false reports against someone, or making real or implied threats toward a person may constitute Retaliation.

Title IX Prohibited Conduct Under Federal Law[1]

Sexual Harassment

  • A TSC employee[2] conditioning the provision of an aid, benefit, or service of  TSC on participation in unwelcome sexual conduct (quid pro quo sexual harassment).
    • Unwelcome conduct that a reasonable person would determine is so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to TSC’s education program or activity (hostile environment sexual harassment).

Sexual Assault

  • Rape:[3] Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, or by a sex-related object, without the affirmative consent of that person, including instances where the person is incapable of giving consent because of their age or because of their temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity (except Statutory Rape). Both attempted Rape and completed Rape are prohibited by this Policy.[4]
  • Non-Consensual Sexual Contact:[5] Contact, for the purpose of sexual degradation, sexual gratification, or sexual humiliation, without the victim’s affirmative consent, including instances where the victim is incapable of giving consent because of their age or because of their temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity, that involves: (i) the intentional touching of the victim’s clothed or unclothed body parts; or (ii) the non-consensual touching by the victim of the Respondent’s clothed or unclothed body parts (i.e., making the victim touch the Respondent).
  • Incest: Non-forcible sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law.
  • Statutory Rape: Non-forcible sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of consent. In New York, the statutory age of consent is 17 years old.

Dating Violence

Any violence, including but not limited to sexual or physical abuse or the threat of such abuse, committed by a person who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the victim. The existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on consideration of the length of the relationship, the type of relationship, and the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship.

Domestic Violence

Any felony or misdemeanor crime of violence committed by: a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim; a person with whom the victim shares a child in common; a person who is cohabitating with or has cohabitated with the victim as a spouse or intimate partner; a person similarly situated to the spouse of the victim under New York’s domestic or family violence laws; or by any other person against an adult or youth victim who is protected from that person’s acts under New York’s domestic or family violence laws.

Stalking

Engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person, on the basis of sex, that would cause a reasonable person to: fear for their safety or the safety of others; or suffer substantial emotional distress. Course of conduct means two or more acts, including, but not limited to, acts in which the stalker directly, indirectly, or through third parties, by any action, method, device, or means, follows, monitors, observes, surveils, threatens, or communicates to or about a person, or interferes with a person’s property. Reasonable person means a reasonable person under similar circumstances and with similar identities to the victim.   Substantial emotional distress means significant mental suffering or anguish that may, but does not necessarily, require medical or other professional treatment or counseling.

[1] The 2020 Title IX Regulations define “quid pro quo” and “hostile environment” sexual harassment.  The 2020 Regulations require TSC to use the definitions of Sexual Assault prescribed by the Clery Act, 20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(6)(A)(v), and the definitions of Dating Violence, Domestic Violence, and Stalking prescribed by the Violence Against Women Act, 34 U.S.C. 12291(a).

[2] Reports about TSC employees’ behavior are addressed under the Columbia University’s Anti-Discrimination and Discriminatory Harassment Policies & Procedures for Faculty and Staff. 

[3] This definition reflects the 2025 update to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) User Manual.

[4] Attempted Rape means to make an effort to do, accomplish, or effect a Rape.

[5] This definition reflects the 2025 update to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) User Manual.