3.35 Scripps College Notification Protocol for Bias Related Incidents

This Communications Protocol is intended to provide a framework for Scripps College’s responses to bias-related incidents.

Bias-related incidents are expressions of hostility against another person (or group) because of that person’s (or group’s) race, color, religion, ancestry, age, national origin, disability, gender or sexual orientation, or because the perpetrator perceives that the other person (or group) has one or more of those characteristics. As used in this Protocol, the term “bias-related incident” is limited to conduct that violates the Scripps College Principles of Community, one or more of the Claremont colleges’ disciplinary codes, and/or which is not protected by the First Amendment of the United States Constitution or by analogous provisions of state law. A hate crime is an especially severe form of bias-related incident, and such crimes fall far beyond the bounds of constitutional protection. However, the category of bias-related incidents extends beyond hate crimes and other actions that would constitute criminal offenses under relevant penal codes.

In the event that a bias-related incident occurs on Scripps’ campus, this Protocol shall govern communication to the community

Procedure For Responding To Bias-related Incidents

1. Any person, including faculty, staff, students and visitors to the College, observing an incident or evidence of possible bias incident and/or hate crime shall notify College staff⁵ and/or Campus Safety before taking any action (such as disposing or removing evidence, altering scene, etc.).
2. The college staff and/or campus safety shall follow the protocol of The Claremont Colleges by contacting the Scripps College Dean of Students.
3. The Dean of Students will communicate to the Scripps community and to the Chief Student Affairs Officers on other campuses and the Chief Administrative Officer at CUC using the protocol outlined on the next page.
4. In the event that the Dean of Students is unavailable, she or he will have designated a second in command to whom the communication will be directed. The second in command then is responsible for informing the Dean of Students as quickly as possible and implementing the following protocol. The Associate Dean/Residence Life will ensure that professional and student residence life staff members are instructed about response protocols for such incidents and shall be trained about this protocol. At each mandatory dorm meeting, Resident Advisers will describe the notification protocol for bias-related incidents (and have copies available of the notification protocol).
5. The Dean of Students will notify the Scripps community as soon as possible by e-mail. The e-mail communication should:
   • Provide a brief description of the incident;
   • List any information about initial steps that have been taken to address the incident;
   • Provide instructions about how to report information about the incident; and
   • Conclude with a standard paragraph on steps community members should take in the event they see a bias-related incident and the availability (upon request) of the log of incident communications originating from Scripps College as well as The Claremont Colleges.
   • A copy of the e-mail will be sent to DCC members simultaneously with the community
6. The Dean of Students also shall:
   • Notify personnel responsible to handle the incident following the College’s standard emergency protocols;
   • Utilize RAs, Scripps Associated Students, and other student leaders in ways consistent with their position description and responsibilities to assist the College in responding to the incident; and
   • Utilize informational sessions for community members to receive information in person, ask questions, and generally discuss incident⁶ as appropriate to the incident.
7. The Dean of Students will keep a log of incident communications originating from Scripps College. A copy of this log also will be available at SARLO and SCORE. The log shall include a description of each incident, and the institutional and/or police response to the incident.⁷ The log of bias-related incidents and/or hate crimes for Scripps is available to students, faculty and/or staff.
8. With reference to The Claremont Colleges protocol for bias-related incidents (#7), the Scripps Dean of Students may (a) inform students, faculty, and staff by unbundled e-mails of bias-related incidents or hate crimes that occur on the other campuses (b), post notices at the Motley, (c), utilize RAs, Scripps Associated Students, other student leaders, in ways consistent with their position description and responsibilities(d) notify the Diversity Coordinating Committee and any other appropriate college-specific body at Scripps that may be charged with handling matters of this nature (e), and utilize informational sessions for community members to receive information in person, ask questions, and generally discuss the incident(s) such as mandatory dorm meetings and/or community meetings.
9. The Diversity Coordinating Committee is charged with working with the community(ies) affected by the bias-related incident or hate crime to find appropriate ways to address their concerns. Bias reports will become a regular agenda item for DCC meetings.

⁵ Preference is for the first level on-call staff to be notified . Appropriate staff includes: RAs, and Dean of Students and/or Dean of Faculty or their designated representatives.
⁶ Session(s) may be repeated, and timing should relate to the time and nature of incident.
⁷ Information required to be kept confidential pursuant to law shall not be disclosed in these logs.