October 24, 2017
Dear Students,
As the semester flies by and we all look forward to the upcoming holiday season, we would like to take a moment to remind you of the University of Southern California’s Principles of Community:
USC is a multicultural community of people from diverse racial, ethnic, gender, and class backgrounds, national origins, faith backgrounds, political beliefs, abilities, and sexual orientations. Our activities, programs, classes, workshops, lectures, and everyday interactions are enriched by our acceptance of one another, and we strive to learn from each other in an atmosphere of positive engagement and mutual respect.
We want to make explicit our expectations regarding the behavior of each member of our community. As adults, we are responsible for our behavior and are fully accountable for our actions. We each must take responsibility for our awareness of racism, sexism, ageism, xenophobia, homophobia, transphobia, ableism and other forms of discrimination.
Bigotry will not go unchallenged within this community. No one has the right to denigrate another human being on the basis of race, sex, sexual orientation, national origins, and other identities. We will not tolerate verbal or written abuse, threats, harassment, intimidation, or violence against person or property. In this context, we do not accept alcohol or substance abuse as an excuse, reason, or rationale for such abuse, harassment, intimidation or violence. Ignorance or “it was just a joke” is also not an excuse for such behavior.
All who work, live, study, and teach in the USC community are here by choice, and as part of that choice should be committed to these principles which are an integral part of the USC’s focus, goals, and mission.
If you experience harassment based on a protected characteristic in our community, please do not hesitate to let us know by reporting it to the Office of Equity and Diversity/Title IX at https://titleix.usc.edu/contact-us/ or calling 213-740-5086. Learn more about bias at https://titleix.usc.edu/.
Sincerely,
Ainsley Carry, Ed.D., MBA, Vice President for Student Affairs
Gretchen Dahlinger Means, J.D., Executive Director, Title IX Coordinator