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TONIGHT THE FACULTY will host an open meeting on a proposal to establish a comprehensive harassment policy for all members of the Harvard community. The proposed policy, which comes in the wake of close to two years of campus debate about sexual harassment, is a significant improvement over existing complaint channels and we urge all students, faculty and administration to endorse it at tonight's meeting.
The policy statement, currently before the Faculty Council, addresses harassment on the basis of factors such as race, gender, sexual orientation and political views. As such, the proposal correctly recognizes the interrelation of all forms of harassment and should encourage individuals to come forward with complaints, since they may be able to identify general harassment without knowing its precise cause.
The plan also deserves praise for its clear-cut statement that harassment is illegal, as well as for its proposal to create a central office to supplement existing complaint channels. Such an office would provide a highly visible resource for complainants and would make it easier to monitor repeat harassers.
The proposal's specific mention of harassment on the basis of sexual preference deserves special note. In light of the Faculty refusal to approve a nondiscrimination clause on the grounds of sexual preference in 1981, the new provision is a welcome softening of their previous hardline stance on the issue.
The breadth of the policy, as well as its emphasis on informal problem solving, should go a long way toward combatting the day-to-day abuses many victims are generally reluctant to report. However, the proposal leaves virtually untouched the existing formal grievance procedures for severe complaints. Those procedures-which rely on the discretion of the Dean of the Faculty rather than clearly stated guidelines-serve to downplay the severity of the offense. Complainants will be reluctant to come forward with serious problems so, long as Harvard continues to treat harassment as a "family matter," rather than a reprehensible and illegal form of discrimination.
Anyone concerned with the issue of harassment should make these and other concerns heard tonight; the proposed policy merits strong, but qualified, support.
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