Dear Members of the Brown Community,

Over the past few months, the country has been deeply engaged in serious and important discussions about sexual harassment. What began with allegations against highly placed executives in Hollywood has touched virtually every industry and every community. But we know that the reports that grabbed headlines in October weren’t really the beginning. This moment has prompted reflection and the sharing of personal stories of pain dating back decades. I have no doubt this includes members of our Brown campus family, and the families of faculty, staff and students at home.

This moment is a reminder of why we must hold fast to our values as a University community — values that include appreciating all members of our community for who they are and what they contribute. My deeply held belief is that successful learning communities must be grounded in an ethos of mutual respect. No one should be subject to sexual harassment anywhere on a college campus, whether that is in the workplace, the classroom, a dormitory, or any other location.

We will continue to work together as a community on this important national problem. The program for faculty and staff at Professional Development Day on February 20, 2018, will focus on equity, diversity and inclusion, including challenges of sexual harassment. We have dedicated ourselves to aggressively confronting these issues head-on, dating back to the 2013 work of Brown’s Sexual Assault Task Force. More information about the Professional Development Day program will be available closer to the date.

I want to remind all those who live, work and study at Brown of the resources available on campus to address sexual harassment and, more broadly, issues of equity and diversity.

**The Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity (OIED), led by Vice President Shontay Delalue, oversees efforts to build and sustain a diverse and inclusive environment at Brown. This includes overseeing compliance, investigating incidents of discrimination and harassment, and increasing our capacity to engage with each other as a diverse community, in accordance with Titles VI, VII and IX.

**The Title IX Office, led by Title IX Program Officer Rene Davis, guides efforts in response to issues of sexual and gender-based harassment and violence. The office also collaborates with partners across campus to prevent this type of harassment and inequity. The program officer and coordinators in the Title IX office are a resource for faculty, staff, students and visitors to report incidents that occur or to discuss opportunities to address and redress problematic behavior.

**The University also provides confidential resources to support our community in responding to sexual violence and harassment. Students can reach out to the Sexual Assault Response Line, counselors with Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS), Sexual Harassment & Assault Resources & Education Advocates (SHARE), the Office of the Chaplains and Religious Life, or the Faculty and Staff Assistance Program.

I hope for strong participation among faculty and staff in Professional Development Day in February. We must embrace the shared responsibility of being a community that values every individual.

Sincerely,

Christina Paxson