Lafayette College has entered into a resolution agreement with the U.S. Department of Education regarding its compliance with Title VI of the of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The agreement includes steps the Easton, Pennsylvania, college plans to take when responding to allegations of discrimination or harassment based on shared ancestry, according to department’s Office of Civil Rights (OCR), which investigated the college’s responses to an Oct. 25, 2023, on-campus protest and notices of antisemitic and anti-Arab discrimination.
Lafayette CollegeLafayette College
“The college’s commitments today build on many laudable practices the college already had in place to support its campus community against discrimination, importantly bringing its responses in line with applicable Title VI legal requirements,” said Assistant Secretary for the Office for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon.
OCR found that Lafayette engaged in many efforts to respond proactively to prevent the creation of a hostile environment, but it misapplied the legal standard, particularly with respect to harassment occurring on social media, and did not adequately discharge its obligation to assess or redress any hostile environment.
Lafayette, led by President Dr. Nicole Farmer Hurd, agreed to review its response to previous reports of discrimination or harassment based on shared ancestry for the 2023-24 academic year, provide OCR with documentation of its response to all complaints alleging discrimination, and review and revise its policies and procedures to include a description of the forms of discrimination that can occur in the college environment consistent with Title VI.
The agreement also establishes that the college will provide training to those responsible for investigating complaints and other reports of discrimination as well as to staff and students regarding conduct prohibited by Title VI, the college’s responsibility to respond to allegations of discrimination.
