C. Sexual Harassment

The Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), and the State of South Carolina regard Sexual Harassment, a specific form of Discriminatory Harassment, as an unlawful discriminatory practice.

Acts of Sexual Harassment may be committed by any person upon any other person, regardless of the Sex, sexual orientation, and/or gender identity of those involved.

The University has adopted the following definitions of Sexual Harassment in order to address the unique environment of an academic community. Two definitions are required by federal law. While they overlap, they are not identical, and they each apply as noted.

Title VII/FHA Sexual Harassment applies to situations where an Employee is subjected to workplace Sexual Harassment or where a situation involves a residential Complainant in University-provided housing.

Unwelcome verbal, written, graphic, and/or physical conduct;
that is severe or pervasive and objectively offensive;
on the basis of Sex, that
unreasonably interferes with, limits, or effectively denies an individual’s educational or employment access, benefits, or opportunities.

Title IX Sexual Harassment, as an umbrella category, includes the offenses of Sexual Harassment, Sexual Assault, Domestic Violence, Dating Violence, and Stalking. This definition applies to all Formal Complaints that fall within Title IX jurisdiction as determined by the Senior Director of Student Experience and Title IX Coordinator. Sexual Harassment includes:

Conduct on the basis of Sex, or that is sexual in nature, that satisfies one or more of the following:

Quid Pro Quo:
1. An Employee of the University,
2. conditions the provision of an aid, benefit, or service of the University,
3. on an individual's participation in unwelcome sexual conduct.
Sexual Harassment (Hostile Environment):
1. Unwelcome conduct,
2. determined by a Reasonable Person,
3. to be severe, and
4. pervasive, and
5. objectively offensive,
6. that effectively denies a Complainant equal access to the University's program or activity.
Sexual Assault:
1. Rape:
  1. Penetration, no matter how slight,
  2. of the vagina or anus of a person,
  3. with any body part or object, OR
  4. Oral penetration
    1. of a sex organ of the Complainant,
    2. by the Respondent's sex organ,
  5. without the consent of the Complainant,
  6. including instances where the Complainant is incapable of giving consent because of their age or because of a temporary permanent mental or physical incapacity.
2. Fondling:
  1. The touching of the private body parts (buttocks, groin, breasts) of the Complainant by the Respondent, or
  2. the Respondent's private body parts touching the Complainant, or
  3. the Respondent causing the Complainant to touch the Respondent's or their own private body parts,
    1. for the purpose of sexual gratification,
    2. without the consent of the complainant,
    3. including instances where the Complainant is incapable of giving consent because of their age or because of a temporary or permanent mental or physical incapacity.
3. Incest:
  1. Sexual intercourse,
  2. between persons who are related to each other,
  3. within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by South Carolina law.
4. Statutory Rape:
  1. Sexual intercourse,
  2. with a person who is under the statutory age of consent of 16 years old.
Dating Violence:
1. Violence,
2. on the basis of Sex,
3. committed by a Respondent,
4. who is in or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the Complainant.
  1. The existence of such a relationship shall be determined based on the Complainant's statement and with consideration of the length of the relationship, the type of relationship, and the frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship. For the purposes of this definition --
    1. Dating Violence includes, but is not limited to, sexual or physical abuse or the threat of such abuse
    2. Dating Violence does not include acts covered under the definition of Domestic Violence
Domestic Violence:
1. Violence,
2. on the basis of Sex,
3. committed by a Respondent who is a current or former spouse or intimate parter of the Complainant,
4. by a person with whom the Complainant shares a child in common, or
5. by a person who is cohabitating with, or has cohabitated with, the Complainant as a spouse or intimate partner, or
6. by a person similarly situated to a spouse of the Complainant under the domestic or family violence laws of South Carolina, or
7. by any other person against an adult or youth Complainant who is protected from that person's acts under the domestic or family violence laws of South Carolina.
Stalking
1. A Respondent engaging in a course of conduct,
2. on the basis of Sex,
3. directed at the Complainant, that
  1. would cause a Reasonable Person to fear for the person's safety, or the safety of others; or
  2. Suffer substantial emotional distress.
4. For the purposes of this definition --
  1. Course of conduct means two or more acts, including, but not limited to acts in which the Respondent 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
  2. Substantial emotional distress means significant mental suffering or anguish that may but does not necessarily require medical or other professional treatment or counseling