University Policy
Title
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Policy on Prohibited Sexual Harassment Under Title IX
Introduction
Purpose
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill ("University") is committed to providing an environment where all members of our community can learn, work, and thrive. The University is firmly committed to maintaining a campus environment free from Sexual Harassment. This Policy is grounded in Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 ("Title IX") and its implementing regulations.1 Title IX governs the University's response to Sexual Harassment, including Sexual Assault, Dating Violence, Domestic Violence, and Stalking, as defined in this Policy. Such acts violate the essential dignity of our community members and are contrary to our institutional values.
Scope
This Policy and associated Procedures provide for the prompt, impartial, and effective response to reports of Sexual Harassment, including Sexual Assault, Dating Violence, Domestic Violence, and Stalking, as defined in this Policy ("Title IX Sexual Harassment").
This Policy and associated Procedures protect University Students, Employees, and other persons in the United States from Title IX Sexual Harassment in an Education Program or Activity of the University. This Policy and associated Procedures apply to the conduct of University Students, Employees, and other persons reported to have engaged in conduct that could constitute Sexual Harassment under this Policy.
This Policy applies to locations, events, or circumstances for which the University exercised substantial control over both the Responding Party and the context in which the Title IX Sexual Harassment occurred at the time of the alleged incident. This includes any building owned or controlled by a student organization that is officially recognized by the University. This Policy applies to conduct that occurs in the United States.
Sexual Assault, Dating Violence, Domestic Violence, Stalking, and Discrimination or Harassment based on Sex not meeting the definitions and/or jurisdictional requirements set out in this Policy will be addressed under the University's Policy on Prohibited Discrimination, Harassment and Related Misconduct and accompanying Procedures.
Effective Date
The Title IX Sexual Harassment Policy and Procedures will apply to reports of Title IX Sexual Harassment that reportedly occurred on or after August 14, 2020.
Policy
Policy Statement
This Policy prohibits specific forms of Sexual Harassment. Specifically, this Policy prohibits Sexual Harassment, including Sexual Assault, Dating Violence, Domestic Violence, and Stalking, as defined in this Policy ("Title IX Sexual Harassment").
When the University has Actual Knowledge of a potential violation of this Policy, the Title IX Coordinator, in consultation with other administrators, will implement reasonable and appropriate Supportive Measures to restore or preserve equal access to the University's Education Program or Activities and to protect the safety of the parties.
When a Formal Complaint under this Policy is filed, as detailed in the related Procedures, the University will initiate a formal process of investigation and adjudication of the alleged Policy violation.
The University Compliance Office ("UCO") has sole authority to administer this Policy and the accompanying procedure and to oversee the investigation, response to, and resolution of all reports of Title IX Sexual Harassment.
Definitions
Actual Knowledge: Notice of Sexual Harassment or allegations of Sexual Harassment to the University's Title IX Coordinator or any official of the University who has authority to institute corrective measures on behalf of the University.
Coercion: Coercion is the use or attempted use of an unreasonable amount of pressure and/or oppressive behavior. Coercion includes express or implied threats and/or intimidation that wrongfully impair a person's ability to make a clear and willing choice to engage in Sexual Contact.
Examples of Coercion include, but are not limited to:
- Use of physical intimidation such as blocking access to an exit;
- Causing the deliberate Incapacitation of another person;
- Conditioning an academic benefit or employment advantage on submission to the Sexual Contact;
- Threatening to harm oneself if the other party does not engage in Sexual Contact; or
- Threatening to disclose an individual's Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity, Gender Expression, prior sexual history, or other personal sensitive information if the other party does not engage in the Sexual Contact.
Consent: Consent is the communication of an affirmative, conscious, informed, and freely made decision by each participant to mutually engage in agreed-upon forms of Sexual Contact. Consent requires an outward demonstration, through understandable words or actions, that conveys a clear willingness to engage in Sexual Contact.
Lack of Consent, refusal, or non-Consent may be expressed in many ways, including verbally or physically. Consent is not to be inferred from silence, passivity, or a lack of resistance, and relying on non-verbal communication alone may result in a violation of this Policy. For example, a person who does not physically resist or verbally refuse Sexual Contact may not necessarily be giving Consent. There is no requirement that an individual verbally or physically resist unwelcome Sexual Contact for there to be a violation of this Policy.
Consent is not to be inferred from an existing or previous dating or sexual relationship. Even in the context of a relationship, there must be mutual Consent for every engagement in Sexual Contact.
Consent to one form of Sexual Contact does not constitute Consent to any other form of Sexual Contact, nor does Consent to Sexual Contact with one person constitute Consent to Sexual Contact with any other person. Additionally, Consent to Sexual Contact on one occasion is not Consent to engage in Sexual Contact on another occasion.
Consent cannot be obtained by Coercion or Force or by taking advantage of one's inability to give Consent because of Incapacitation or other circumstances. Coercion, Force, and Incapacitation are described in more detail in this Definitions section. Consent cannot be obtained from an individual who is under the applicable legal age to give Consent.
A person who has given Consent to engage in Sexual Contact may withdraw Consent at any time. However, withdrawal of Consent requires an outward demonstration, through understandable words or actions, that clearly conveys that a party is no longer willing to engage in Sexual Contact. Once Consent is withdrawn, the Sexual Contact must cease immediately.
Individuals who initiate or escalate Sexual Contact assume responsibility for their behavior and must understand that the use of alcohol or other drugs does not reduce accountability for their actions or negate their responsibility to effectively seek Consent and to assure that the other party is freely giving Consent. The measure by which Consent will be evaluated is whether the person who initiated or escalated the Sexual Contact knew, or whether a sober and reasonable person in the same position should have known, if the other person gave Consent.
Dating Violence: Violence committed by a Responding Party who is or has been in a social relationship of a romantic or intimate nature with the Reporting Party. The existence of such a relationship is determined based on consideration of:
- The length of the relationship;
- The type of relationship; and
- The frequency of interaction between the persons involved in the relationship.
Domestic Violence: Felony or misdemeanor crimes of violence committed by:
- A current or former spouse or intimate partner of the Reporting Party;
- A person with whom the Reporting Party shares a child in common;
- A person who is cohabitating with, or has cohabitated with, the Reporting Party as a spouse or intimate partner;
- A person similarly situated to a spouse of the Reporting Party under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction in which the crime of violence occurred; or
- Any other person against an adult or youth Reporting Party who is protected from that person's acts under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction in which the crime of violence occurred.
Education Program or Activity: Locations, events, or circumstances for which the University exercised substantial control over both the Responding Party and the context in which the Sexual Harassment occurred at the time of the alleged incident, which includes any building owned or controlled by a student organization that is officially recognized by the University.
Employee: Any faculty or staff member, whether part-time or full-time, permanent or temporary, including post-doctoral scholars. For the purposes of this Policy, employees who are also students are considered employees if the Reporting Party alleges that the student-employee conditioned the provision of University aid, benefits, or services which the student-employee had the authority or ability to provide on the Reporting Party's participation in unwelcome Sexual Contact.
Force or Forcibly: Includes the use of physical violence, intimidation, or express or implied threats of physical or emotional harm that would cause a reasonable person in similar circumstances and with similar identities to fear immediate or future harm, including force that is employed to persuade or compel someone to engage in Sexual Contact. Physical violence entails exerting control over another person through the use of physical force, including but not limited to hitting, punching, slapping, kicking, restraining, strangling, or brandishing a weapon.
Formal Complaint: A document filed by a Reporting Party or signed by the Title IX Coordinator alleging Title IX Sexual Harassment against a Responding Party and requesting that the University investigate the allegation of Title IX Sexual Harassment.
Incapacitation/Incapacitated (also referred to as "Mental or Physical Incapacity"): An individual who is Incapacitated is unable to give Consent to Sexual Contact. An individual is Incapacitated if, by reason of mental or physical condition, the individual is unable to make a knowing and deliberate choice to engage in Sexual Contact. States of Incapacitation include, but are not limited to, sleep, unconsciousness, intermittent consciousness, unresponsiveness, or any other state where a reasonable person under a similar circumstance would know that the individual is unaware that Sexual Contact is occurring. Incapacitation may also exist because of a mental, intellectual, or developmental disability that impairs the ability to Consent to Sexual Contact.
Alcohol or drug use is one of the primary causes of Incapacitation. The impact of alcohol or other drugs varies from person to person and may change over a period of time based on a variety of subjective factors, including the amount of substance intake, speed of intake, body mass, and metabolism. Where alcohol or drug use is involved, being drunk or intoxicated can lead to Incapacitation; however, someone who is drunk or intoxicated is not necessarily Incapacitated because Incapacitation is a state beyond intoxication, impairment in judgment, or drunkenness. Because the impact of alcohol or other drugs varies from person to person, evaluating whether an individual is Incapacitated and therefore unable to give Consent requires the individual initiating or escalating Sexual Contact to assess whether the consumption of alcohol or other drugs has rendered the other individual physically helpless or substantially incapable of:
- Making a knowing and deliberate choice to engage in Sexual Contact;
- Making decisions about the potential consequences of Sexual Contact;
- Appraising the nature of their own conduct;
- Communicating Consent to Sexual Contact; or
- Communicating unwillingness to engage in Sexual Contact.
Indicators that an individual may be Incapacitated include, but are not limited to, inability to communicate coherently, inability to dress or undress without assistance, inability to walk without assistance, slurred speech, loss of coordination, vomiting, or inability to perform other physical or cognitive tasks without assistance.
No matter the level of an individual's intoxication, if that individual has not affirmatively agreed to engage in Sexual Contact, there is no Consent. A Responding Party's intoxication is never an excuse for or a defense to committing any violation of this Policy, and it does not diminish one's responsibility to obtain Consent. To evaluate whether the Responding Party knew or should have known that the other party was incapacitated, the UCO will consider what a reasonable sober person knew or should have known.
Reporting Party: An individual who is alleged to be the subject of conduct that could constitute Title IX Sexual Harassment.
Responding Party: An individual who has been reported to have engaged in conduct that could constitute Title IX Sexual Harassment.
Sex: An individual's biological status of male or female.
Sexual Assault: Any of the following sexual acts directed against another person, without Consent, including instances where the person is incapable of giving Consent.
- Rape: Penetration, no matter how slight, of the vagina or anus with any body part or object, or oral penetration by a sex organ of another person, without the Consent of that person.
- Fondling:
- For reports of conduct that reportedly occurred between August 14, 2020 and June 22, 2025, Fondling is the touching of the private body parts of another person for the purpose of sexual gratification, without the Consent of the person, including instances where the person is incapable of giving Consent because of age or temporary or permanent mental incapacity.
- For reports of conduct that reportedly occurred on or after June 23, 2025, Fondling is (1) the intentional touching of the clothed or unclothed body parts of another person without Consent for the purpose of sexual degradation, sexual gratification, or sexual humiliation or (2) forcing another to touch one's clothed or unclothed body parts, without Consent for the purpose of sexual degradation, sexual gratification, or sexual humiliation.
- Incest: Sexual intercourse between persons who are related to each other within the degrees wherein marriage is prohibited by law.
- Statutory Rape: Sexual intercourse with a person who is under the statutory age of Consent.
Sexual Contact: Sexual Contact is any intentional touching or penetration of another person's clothed or unclothed intimate body parts, including but not limited to the buttocks, anus, groin, genitalia, or breast, by another with any part of the body or any object in a sexual manner. Sexual Contact also includes causing another person to touch their own or another's body in the manner described above.
Sexual Harassment (also Title IX Sexual Harassment): Conduct on the basis of Sex that satisfies one of the following:
- An Employee conditioning the provision of University aid, benefits, or services on the Reporting Party's participation in unwelcome Sexual Contact;
- Unwelcome conduct determined by a reasonable person to be so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to a University education program or activity; or
- Sexual Assault, Dating Violence, Domestic Violence, or Stalking, as defined in this Policy.
Stalking: Engaging in a course of conduct based on Sex directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to fear for the person's safety or the safety of others or suffer substantial emotional distress.
Supportive Measures: Non-disciplinary, non-punitive individualized services offered as appropriate, as reasonably available, and without fee or charge to either party at any time during the UCO reporting and resolution process. Supportive Measures are designed to restore or preserve equal access to the University's Education Programs or Activities without unreasonably burdening the other party and include measures designed to protect the safety of all parties or the University's educational environment or to deter Sexual Harassment. Supportive Measures may be requested by the parties or instituted by the University at any time, regardless of whether any particular course of action is sought by the Reporting Party. The UCO will collaborate with campus partners, as appropriate, in the provision of Supportive Measures. Supportive Measures will be maintained as confidential, to the extent that maintaining such confidentiality would not impair the ability of the University to provide the Supportive Measures.
Supportive Measures may include, but are not limited to:
- Access to available resources at UNC Health Campus Care at Carolina, Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), and/or the Employee Assistance Program (EAP);
- Imposition of a campus "No-Contact Order";
- Rescheduling of exams and assignments;
- Providing alternative course completion options;
- Change in class schedule, including the ability to drop a course without penalty or to transfer sections;
- Change in work schedule or job assignment;
- Changes to on-campus housing assignments;
- Limiting access to certain University facilities or activities pending resolution of the matter;
- Voluntary leave of absence;
- Providing an escort to assure safe movement between classes and activities;
- Providing academic support services, such as tutoring; and/or
- Any other measure which can be tailored without an unreasonable burden to the involved individuals to achieve the goals of this Policy.
All individuals are encouraged to report concerns about the adequacy of the Supportive Measures or failure of another individual to abide by any Supportive Measure to the UCO.
UCO: University Compliance Office
Related Requirements
External Regulations and Consequences
University Policies, Standards, and Procedures
Contact Information
Policy Contacts
Inquiries or concerns about this policy or Title IX may be referred to the University's Title IX Coordinator.
Elizabeth Hall
Associate Vice Chancellor/Title IX Coordinator
University Compliance Office
cehall@email.unc.edu
919-445-1297
Concerns about the University's application of laws covered by this Policy may be addressed to the United States Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights.
Office for Civil Rights
OCR@ed.gov
800-421-3481
Footnotes
1. Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities Receiving Federal Financial Assistance, 85 FR 30026 (May 19, 2020)