Bias Incident Reporting

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Submit a Bias Report 

St. Lawrence aspires to bring out the very best critical thinking and leadership skills in our students that will enable them not only to thrive while they are here, but will also serve them well after they graduate. To achieve this, the full participation of our community members must be encouraged and protected, and we embrace SLU values of respect for self, others, and community. This means that all community members are encouraged to embrace our differences, even when, in the words of the University Diversity Statement, we: “risk difficulty and discomfort in working towards achieving these goals.”

Fostering an ­­­­inclusive environment does not mean that community members will never feel upset or offended. The University is a place where diverse ideas and perspectives are welcomed, and it is expected that individuals will sometimes disagree with one another. We should be able to disagree, however, in a respectful manner.

A bias incident is behavior that constitutes an expression of hostility against the person or property of another because of the targeted person’s race, color, predisposing genetic characteristics, gender, gender identity or expression, religion, age, disability, marital status, veteran’s status, sexual orientation, or national or ethnic origin, or any other category protected by law or regulation.   Examples of bias-related incidents include, but are not limited to: verbal or written use of degrading language or insults motivated from a belief or perception about a person’s characteristicsregardless of whether the belief or perception is correct.

Discrimination refers to specific conduct treating people differently based on the characteristics listed above which impacts the recipient, e.g., to deny membership in a group because a person identifies as LGBTQ.  https://www.stlawu.edu/human-resources/combined-discrimination-and-harassment-policies  

Discriminatory harassment is verbal or physical conduct that denigrates or shows hostility toward an individual on the basis of the characteristics listed above. Whether harassment has occurred in violation of SLU’s policy depends on a consideration of all the circumstances, including the severity of the incident(s), whether the conduct was repeated, whether it was threatening or merely annoying, and the context in which the incident or interaction occurred.

A hate crime is a criminal offense committed against a person or property which is motivated, in whole or in part, by the offender’s bias.  A hate crime is defined under New York State law, Penal Law Section 485.05 – Hate Crimes, as follows:

A person commits a hate crime when they commit a specified offense and either:

a) intentionally selects the person against whom the offense is committed or intended to be committed in whole or in substantial part because of a belief or perception regarding the race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation of a person, regardless of whether the belief or perception is correct, or

b) intentionally commits the act or acts constituting the offense in whole or in substantial part because of a belief or perception regarding the race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation of a person, regardless of whether the belief or perception is correct.

Note: All hate crimes are bias incidents, but not all bias incidents are hate crimes.

Reporting a Bias Incident

An individual who believes that they have  experienced or witnessed an act of bias, discrimination or discriminatory harassment, can report it by:

  1. Submitting it via the online bias incident reporting form: ht tps://stlawu-advocate.symplicity.com/public_report
  2. Contacting Safety and Security;
  3. Contacting any CA in Residential Engagement;
  4. Contacting a member of the bias incident reporting team:
    1. Kimberly Flint-Hamilton, Associate Dean for Diversity and Inclusion, kflint@stlawu.edu
    2. Pat Gagnon, Assistant Vice President & Director of Safety and Security, pgagnon@stlawu.edu
    3. Jodi Canfield, Associate Dean of Student Life, jcanfield@stlawu.edu
    4. Ashlee Downing Duke, CARE Team, adowning@stlawu.edu
    5. Mark Denaci, Associate Professor of Art and Art History, mdenaci@stlawu.edu
    6. Laura Rediehs,  Associate Professor of Philosophy, lrediehs@stlawu.edu
    7. Debra Mousaw, Director of Human Resources/Employee Benefits, dmousaw@stlawu.edu

Bias Incident Process

The bias incident reporting process is a referral process, not an investigative one. Immediately after submitting a report online a reporting individual should receive confirmation of the  submission, and the report goes to the chair of the bias incident reporting team. The report is then reviewed by team members.  If bias, discrimination, or harassment is indicated, the report is referred to the appropriate body for investigation – in most cases, either the Associate Dean of Student Life, the Vice President of Academic Affairs, or the Vice President of Community and Employee Relations. The reporting individual will receive an email that briefly indicates to which body the report was referred as soon as the bias incident reporting team has reviewed the report.

For additional information contact Kimberly Flint-Hamilton, kflint@stlawu.edu (315 229-1881). For immediate assistance, please refer to:

911 Emergency
SLU Safety and Security Office:     315 229 5555
SLU Health & Counseling Center: 315 229 5392

Help Make SLU a More Inclusive Place For Everyone!