SUNY Oneonta regular basis; the policy and reporting procedures may be found on this page. Reports of bias acts will be reviewed by the Bias Acts Response Team; see names and contact information for the team members.
The Bias Acts Response Team oversees the responses to individuals and/or communities who have been affected by bias acts. Responses may include investigation and adjudication, as appropriate, by University Police Department, the Office of Student Conduct, the Office of Human Resources and/or the Affirmative Action Office. Other kinds of responses (e.g., passive or active programming about bias acts, facilitated meetings among those who have perpetrated bias acts and those who have been targeted, etc.) are arranged on a case-by-case basis. Persons or communities who have been targeted will be contacted by a member of the team to discuss possible responses and options for investigation and adjudication.
According to New York State Penal Law §485.05, a person commits a hate crime when he or she commits a specified criminal offense and either intentionally commits the act or intentionally selects the person against whom the offense is 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.
A bias act is conduct that adversely and unfairly targets an individual or group based on the social identity categories of race, color, national origin, religion, creed, age, sex, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, familial status, pregnancy, predisposing genetic characteristics, military status, domestic violence victim status, or criminal conviction or any combination of these characteristics. The perpetrators may be known or unknown and the act may be verbal, written or physical and occur on the SUNY Oneonta campus or within an area that affects the campus community. Activity protected by the First Amendment will not constitute bias acts.
Information about SUNY Oneonta’s response to bias acts and hate crimes is disseminated through the Office of Human Resources, the Office of Equity and Inclusion, the Office of Community Standards, and the University Police Department. Anyone who believes that they have been the victim of a hate crime or bias act is encouraged to seek assistance at any of those offices.
For information about bias acts and SUNY Oneonta’s response, please contact a member or office of the Bias Acts Response Team.