When seven female City College students were randomly picked and asked where would they go if they were sexually harassed on campus, not one knew the right person to contact.
Many thought they might start at the Health and Wellness Center in the Student Services building or at the Security Office.
“I would probably go to the Counseling Center,” said Colleen Connors, a second-year communications major.
Contrary to these seemingly logical assumptions, the right place to get help is in the Student Services building but not where one would expect.
Sue Ehrlich, vice president of Human Resources and Legal Services, is the right person to see. Her office is on the second floor of the Student Services building in Room 230. She also can be reached at Ext. 2261. Students may initially choose to approach a dean, but Ehrlich says that most disputes will end up in her office anyway as she is in charge of school policy.
Sexual harassment is considered a form of discrimination and the college’s policy on discrimination is written in the college’s class schedule and the catalogue, she said. The specific sexual harassment policy also is mentioned on page 44 of the catalogue.
However, Ehrlich urges students to come to her whenever they feel they have been sexually harassed regardless of whether it is stated specifically as so in the policy. There is literature on sexual harassment in her office available for students and faculty and every new faculty member receives all the printed information when hired, she added.
This does not mean harassment from a teacher is not a problem. “Having one person in a position of authority over another is problematic,” she said. “We have had students complain they have been propositioned sexually by faculty, which is not a great surprise, and students who have propositioned faculty.”
Ehrlich recognizes that having someone in a position of authority makes coming forward with a complaint very scary.
Anyone who feels they have been sexually harassed does not have to let the harasser know they are filing a complaint and has protection from the school against retaliation, she said. The accused, on the other hand, also has the right to a full and fair investigation.
A teacher also can be a familiar and less intimidating person to go to rather than a dean.
Jane Craven, former dean of Educational Programs in charge of sexual harassment complaints, said “most faculty know where to send someone” and is confident they would help a student find out where if they did not.
Both Ehrlich and Craven stress that the college takes sexual harassment seriously and always will do its best to make the campus as safe as possible.