Frequently Asked Questions

If you were just sexually assaulted, call 911, your local police precinct, or Public Safety. We also recommend that you contact the Title IX Coordinator as soon as possible and get necessary medical attention immediately.

When you first disclose an incident of sexual assault to a responsible employee of your college, that person will explain to you that you have the right to:

• make a report to university police or campus security, local law enforcement, and/or state police or choose not to report;
• report the incident to your institution;
• be protected by the institution from retaliation for reporting an incident; and
• receive assistance and resources from your institution.

Medgar Evers College’s Public Safety Officers have received special training in helping students who have experienced a sexual assault or other forms of relationship violence. A Public Safety Officer will meet with you (at a convenient location) and help you determine what steps you should take next. These may include getting medical care at a hospital or reporting the incident to the New York City Police Department (NYPD.) If you want, the Public Safety Officer (or other campus designee, such as someone from Student Services, Counseling or Human Resources) will go with you to the hospital or the police department. The Public Safety Officer also will let you know of other options you have, such as filing a campus complaint with the Title IX Coordinator alleging a violation of CUNY’s Policy on Sexual Misconduct and seeing a counselor. If you are concerned about future on-campus contact with the person who assaulted (or harassed) you, the Public Safety Officer will put you in contact with campus officials who will take steps to address your concerns.

The Title IX Coordinator will listen to your concerns and discuss ways to address them–including filing a complaint with CUNY or the police. The Title IX Coordinator will fully explain CUNY’s Policy on Sexual Misconduct, including sexual/gender harassment, sexual violence, and retaliation. CUNY’s complaint process–steps, timing, and consequences–will also be fully explained. Importantly, the Title IX Coordinator will provide you with resources, information, and support to help you feel safe and secure.

Going to a Hospital – Sexual contact can transmit sexually transmitted infections and, if you are female, can result in pregnancy. You can prevent pregnancy by taking emergency contraception within 120 hours (5 days) of the assault. Emergency contraception is most effective when taken as soon as possible. Medications to prevent the development of some sexually transmitted infections and HIV can be provided by a doctor. HIV prophylaxis treatment needs to be started within 72 hours. Screening for date rape drugs may be done up to 72 hours after the incident, but is optimally done within 12 hours.Collecting physical evidence must occur within 96 hours (4 days). The hospital can preserve evidence of the assault until you decide what you want to do. (Most hospitals preserve the evidence for 30 days.) Many hospitals in New York have people who are specially trained to give medical exams and provide treatment to people who have been sexually assaulted. Such medical examinations are called sexual assault forensic examinations (SAFE exams) and gather evidence in a manner suitable for use in a court of law. Evidence collection does not require you to place a report with the police or press charges, it just preserves these options for the future. SAFE exams are free and you can stop the medical exam at any time if you are not comfortable. For a list of hospitals in New York City with this service, go to: http://www.svfreenyc.org/get-help/

Notifying Public Safety or NYPD – If you notify Public Safety or NYPD promptly, they can help you get the care you need and/or start investigating your allegations before evidence disappears and memories dim. Although you can contact them any time after the assault to discuss your options or file a complaint, we recommend that you contact Public Safety or NYPD as soon as possible.

Filing a complaint with CUNY – As with Public Safety and the NYPD, the sooner you notify the Title IX Coordinator, the better.

Seeing a Counselor – You can see a mental health counselor at any time.

The Title IX Coordinator will listen to your concerns and discuss ways to address them–including filing a complaint with CUNY or the police. The Title IX Coordinator will fully explain CUNY’s Policy on Sexual Misconduct, including sexual/gender harassment, sexual violence, and retaliation. CUNY’s complaint process–steps, timing, and consequences–will also be fully explained. Importantly, the Title IX Coordinator will provide you with resources, information, and support to help you feel safe and secure.

Sexual violence is an umbrella term that includes: sexual assault, such as rape/attempted rape, sodomy, forcible touching and sexual abuse. If of a sexual nature, stalking/cyberstalking and dating domestic and intimate partner violence may also constitute sexual violence.

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 protects people from sex discrimination in educational programs and activities at institutions that receive federal financial assistance. Sexual harassment, which includes acts of sexual violence, is a form of sex discrimination prohibited by Title IX.

• Each CUNY campus has a Title IX Coordinator whose responsibilities include guiding students, employees and visitors on how to file complaints alleging sexual or gender-based harassment, and/or sexual violence at that campus and responding effectively to these complaints.
• The Title IX Coordinator coordinates and oversees investigations of sexual or gender-based harassment and sexual misconduct. As part of this role, the Title IX Coordinator will attempt to obtain consent from a complainant to conduct an investigation and will inform the complainant of the option of filing a criminal complaint.
• The Title IX Coordinator, working with other campus officials, will take prompt and effective steps reasonably calculated to end any harassment, violence or retaliation, including interim measures such as making necessary changes to academic programs or residential housing situations, arranging appropriate escort or transportation services, prohibiting contact between the parties, enforcing orders of protection, offering counseling or medical services, or changing work assignments and schedules.
• The Title IX Coordinator will provide the complainant and the accused with periodic status updates and notice of the outcome of the complaint.

The Title IX Coordinator will inform you of the process of filing a complaint against the CUNY person (student, faculty, staff) or other person who you believe violated CUNY policy.

• CUNY will investigate a complaint to determine whether a student or other member of the CUNY community violated CUNY’s Policy on Sexual Misconduct. As a result of the investigation, CUNY may bring internal disciplinary charges against the person, which could result in sanctions such as expulsion from campus or termination of employment.
• The police will investigate to determine whether the person has committed a crime and whether there is sufficient evidence to bring criminal charges against the person. As a result, the person could go to jail or be subjected to other penalties.
• You can file a complaint with both the police and CUNY, or with one and not the other.

Tell the Title IX Coordinator. It is important for us to know about it as soon as possible after it occurs so we can keep the campus or residence hall safe.

Medgar Evers College is here to help you regardless of who was involved. If the person was not a member of the CUNY community, we cannot bring disciplinary charges against the person. But we can advise you, among other things, on getting medical care and determining whether to report the incident to the police. If the incident by the non-CUNY person took place on campus or in a residence hall, it is important for us to know about it as soon as possible after it occurs so that we can also notify Public Safety not to permit the non-CUNY person into the campus, residence hall, or employment setting.

• Your conversations with a mental health counselor will be kept confidential. (Exception: If you tell the counselor about a risk of serious and imminent harm against someone, the counselor may need to disclose it.)
• The Title IX Coordinator and Public Safety will respect your request for confidentiality but may need to share the information with others who have a need to know it. They will let you know what information they may need to share with others.
• If you request confidentiality, please understand that CUNY’s ability to investigate and address your complaint may be limited.

Yes. As designated in CUNY’s Policy, certain employees are considered “responsible” employees who cannot maintain your confidentiality and must report incidents of sex-based harassment or sexual violence to the Title IX Coordinator.

Medgar Evers College encourages all other community members, including faculty, students and visitors, to take reasonable and prudent actions to prevent or stop an act of sex or gender-based harassment or sexual violence that they may witness. Although these actions will depend on the circumstances, they include direct intervention, calling law enforcement, or seeking assistance from a person in authority. In addition, Medgar Evers College encourages all community members to report an incident of sex-based harassment or sexual violence that they observe or become aware of to the Title IX Coordinator, and/or the offices of Public Safety and the Vice President of Students Affairs and/or Dean of Students at their college. Community members who take action in accordance with this paragraph will be supported by the college and protected from retaliation.

The accused student will be notified of the complaint and instructed not to contact you. S/he will also be advised of how the grievance procedures work. Medgar Evers College is committed to making the disciplinary procedure as transparent and fair as possible for both parties. An investigation will be conducted, and you will be notified of the conclusions reached. If it is determined that the allegations are supported by the evidence, discipline against the accused student will be sought. The accused student has a right to a student disciplinary hearing before the penalties the college seeks can be imposed.

Yes. If you make a complaint to the Title IX Coordinator, the College can take steps to address your concerns by providing you with interim and supportive measures. These may include changes to room assignments or residential housing situations, issuing “no contact” orders, or class changes.

Retaliatory conduct is illegal and will not be tolerated. Persons who engage in it are subject to disciplinary action. Inform the Title IX Coordinator as soon as possible. S/he will discuss possible remedies with you. We want you to feel safe.

No. You do not need to say “no” to indicate you do not consent. Consent cannot be inferred from the absence of a “no.” Consent is a knowing, informed, voluntary and mutual decision to engage in agreed upon sexual activity; it can be withdrawn at any time. Consent can be given by words or actions, as long as those words or actions create clear permission regarding willingness to engage in (and the conditions of) the sexual activity. Silence or failure to resist does not, in and of itself, demonstrate consent. If you were drunk, you may not have had the capacity to consent.

Medgar Evers College strongly encourages students to report instances of sexual harassment, gender-based harassment or sexual violence as soon as possible, even if those reporting or the alleged victim may have engaged in the inappropriate or unlawful use of alcohol or drugs. Therefore, in accordance with Medgar Evers College’s Drug/Alcohol Use Amnesty Policy, a student acting in good faith who reports or experiences sexual harassment, gender-based harassment or sexual violence will not be disciplined by the college for any violation of Medgar Evers College’s Policy Against Drugs and Alcohol in connection with the reported incident.

Please let the Title IX Coordinator know about your experience. Your RA should not discourage you from speaking about your experience, let alone reporting it. The Title IX Coordinator can help you determine whether you should report the assault and arrange for you to speak to a professional counselor about your experience.

No. Your prior sexual history with other people is not relevant.

Yes. There often are no witnesses to sexual assaults. CUNY’s Title IX Coordinators and the police are trained to investigate these types of cases.

This is a common concern among persons who experience sexual assault. Please remember that having consensual sex with a person once (or even multiple times) does not mean that you consent to having sex with that person forever. Past consent to sexual activity between individuals does not constitute consent to subsequent sexual activity between those individuals, and consent to one form of sexual activity does not necessarily imply consent to other forms of sexual activity. Whether one party to sexual activity is in a position of authority or influence over the other party is a relevant factor in determining consent. CUNY’s Title IX Coordinators and the police have a great deal of experience addressing these situations.

Title IX Coordinator.