WSU Everett is committed to fostering a safe and secure environment for students, staff, faculty, and visitors, free of all forms of discrimination, which includes sex and gender-based violence, including those crimes defined in Section 13. WSU demonstrates its commitment to these principles by equipping our community with the knowledge, skills, and resources to maintain a safe and welcoming environment for everyone. WSU has adopted policies and procedures to address incidents of sexual violence, which includes sexual assault, sexual exploitation, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. WSU policies apply to all students, staff, faculty, contracted employees, and visitors. The processes in place allow WSU to address conduct that occurs on and off campus and serves as a separate and distinct process from the criminal process. For additional information, see Section 11 and Section 12 or visit the WSU Compliance and Civil Rights Website.
WSU has an obligation to address concerns related to sexual violence upon learning of an incident.
All employees of WSU, with limited exceptions, are required to report any information relating to allegations of sexual harassment, including sexual violence, to the WSU Title IX Coordinator. Reports can be made in a variety of ways, including online, in person, by phone, or through staff or employees of WSU. For more information on this requirement, including the limited exceptions, please visit the WSU Compliance and Civil Rights Website, or contact the office by telephone at 509-335-8288.
After CCR becomes aware of a concern, the WSU Title IX Coordinator or a representative from CCR will contact the individual who experienced the conduct to provide information on WSU policy, reporting options, and resources available on campus and within the community. The victim/survivor is not obligated to report the incident to WSU or law enforcement. WSU will not provide the information to law enforcement, unless the victim/survivor would like assistance in doing so or under limited exceptions as required to do so by state or federal law, such as the victim/survivor being a minor.
Any person who experiences sexual violence may report to the WSU Everett Campus Title IX Coordinators (Anna Mcleod, Sean McNaughton) at 425-315-4014, as well as WSU Compliance and Civil Rights at 509-335-8288, French Administration Room 225, Pullman, WA 99164, by email at CCR@wsu.edu, or online at the CCR Online Complaint Form.
Prevention Programs
WSU provides a wide range of crime prevention programming, as well as programming specific to preventing dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
Available Education for Students
Multiple programs are available to WSU students on consent and respect, bystander intervention, risk reduction, and hazing, including definitions and WSU policies on responding to sexual assault, sexual exploitation, intimate partner violence, and stalking.
- Consent and Respect: Available to all students; required for incoming first-year and transfer undergraduates. Addresses complexities around unwanted sexual experiences and empowers individuals as active bystanders addressing gender-based violence. Covers campus policies, resources, and reporting options, and WSU’s prohibition on dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking. Students also learn the following definitions:
- Dating Violence: Intimate partner abuse is conduct or threats which are targeted against a person with whom an individual is in or had been in a romantic, sexual, or dating relationship, where the conduct or threats are used to coerce, intimidate, or control the person. This may include physical, verbal, emotional, psychological, or financial assault and/or control. It may also include direct or indirect conduct, as well as threats or conduct directed towards the person’s family, friends, property, or pets.
- Domestic Violence: A felony or misdemeanor crime of violence committed:
- By a current or former spouse or intimate partner of the victim;
- By a person with whom the victim shares a child in common;
- By a person who is cohabitating with, or has cohabitated with, the victim as a spouse or intimate partner;
- By a person similarly situated to a spouse of the victim under the domestic or family violence laws of the jurisdiction in which the crime of violence occurred; or
- By any other person against an adult or youth victim 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.
- Sexual Assault: Nonconsensual sexual contact is any intentional sexual touching, however slight, with any object or body part, by one person against another person’s intimate parts (or clothing covering any of those areas), or by causing another person to touch his or her own or another person’s intimate body parts without consent and/or by force. Sexual contact also can include any intentional bodily contact in a sexual manner with another person’s nonintimate body parts. It also includes nonconsensual sexual intercourse.
- Consent: Consent to any sexual activity must be clear, knowing, and voluntary. Anything less is equivalent to a “no.” Clear, knowing, and voluntary consent to sexual activity requires that, at the time of the act, and throughout the sexual contact, all parties actively express words or conduct that a reasonable person would conclude demonstrates clear permission regarding willingness to engage in sexual activity and the conditions of such activity. Consent is active; silence or passivity is not consent. Even if words or conduct alone seem to imply consent, sexual activity is nonconsensual when:
- Force or coercion is threatened or used to procure compliance with the sexual activity:
- Force is the use of physical violence, physical force, threat, or intimidation to overcome resistance or gain consent to sexual activity.
- Coercion is unreasonable pressure for sexual activity. When an individual makes it clear through words or actions that the individual does not want to engage in sexual contact, wants to stop, or does not want to go past a certain point of sexual interaction, continued pressure beyond that point may be coercive. Other examples of coercion may include using blackmail or extortion to overcome resistance or gain consent to sexual activity.
- The person is asleep, unconscious, or physically unable to communicate his or her unwillingness to engage in sexual activity; or
- A reasonable person would or should know that the other person lacks the mental capacity at the time of the sexual activity to be able to understand the nature or consequences of the act, whether that incapacity is produced by illness, defect, the influence of alcohol or another substance, or some other cause. When alcohol or drugs are involved, a person is considered incapacitated or unable to give valid consent if the individual cannot fully understand the details of the sexual interaction (i.e., who, what, when, where, why, and how), and/or the individual lacks the capacity to reasonably understand the situation and to make rational, reasonable decisions.
- Force or coercion is threatened or used to procure compliance with the sexual activity:
- Stalking: Stalking is engaging in a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to:
- Fear for their safety or the safety of others;
- Fear for harm to their property or the property of others; or
- Suffer substantial emotional distress.
- Stalking includes, but is not limited to, conduct occurring in person, electronically, or through a third party.
- Alcohol Wise: Available to all students; required for incoming first-year and transfer undergraduates. Covers the misuse of alcohol and its impact on academic success and well-being, including moderate use, avoiding high-risk drinking patterns and consequences, and recognizing individuals in distress.
- Hazing and Hosting: Required for all incoming and transfer students, undergraduate, graduate, and professional. A state-law-specific course emphasizing personal responsibility for hazing and social hosting as it relates to underage drinking, helping students identify forms of hazing and how and when to file a report.
- Count on Cougs and Other Violence Prevention Workshops: Count on Cougs is a bystander intervention workshop where students learn to recognize and respond to high-risk situations, practicing safe, realistic intervention skills. Additional workshop topics include Healthy Relationships, Supporting Survivors, and Understanding Sexual Assault.
- Additional Workshops: Health Education provides additional workshops on request, including:
- Life Skills
- Stress Management
- Mindfulness
- Sleep More, Sleep Better
- Time Management
- Self-Care
- Mental Health
- Behind Happy Faces
- Mental Health and Suicide Prevention
- Campus Connect
- Mental Health First Aid
- Sexual Health
- STI Workshop
- Sexuality
- Substance Abuse
- Sleep, Alcohol Use, and Academic Impacts
- Real Risks
- Party Expectations
Other programs on sexual assault, sexual exploitation, intimate partner violence, and stalking are provided throughout the year, open to all Pullman students, who can sign up through Presence and the Health Education Website.
Graduate students at all locations receive an orientation covering reporting and resources for discrimination, harassment, student misconduct, sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking; the Graduate Student Policies and Procedures Manual also includes reporting options and grievance procedures.
Students at WSU Bremerton can access Consent and Respect, Alcohol Wise, and Hazing and Hosting Education through the WSU Health Promotions office, as well as other trainings including:
- Count on Cougs: Empowers bystanders to actively reduce gender-based violence, including intimate partner violence, stalking, and sexual assault; offered via Zoom throughout the year (Health Education Website).
- Mental Health First Aid: An 8-hour training (2 hours pre-work, 6 hours Zoom) on identifying mental health disorder symptoms, responding in a crisis, and active listening skills (Registration Site).
- Campus Connect: A 2-hour training on college student suicide statistics, responding in a suicidal crisis, appropriate referrals, and active listening, communication, and relationship-building skills (Registration Site).
Risk Reduction
Acts of harm or violence result from choices made by the person causing harm, not the victim’s/survivor’s decisions. Steps to promote individual and community safety, also provided to incoming Pullman students, include:
- Plan ahead. Charge your phone before going out and stay in contact with friends; ask friends to check in before leaving for the night, and follow up if someone doesn’t.
- Make a backup plan. Bring extra cash for a cab or call a trusted friend to walk you home if you feel unsafe.
- Pay attention to your gut instincts. If a situation feels uncomfortable, find someone you trust or leave; contact police if you have safety concerns.
- If choosing to drink alcohol, plan how many drinks you’ll have and stick to it; eat before or during the night, alternate alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks, and maintain control of your drinks at all times.
- Respect everyone’s personal boundaries, including involving sex. Consent must be clear, knowing, and voluntary; if uncertain you’ve obtained it, stop and check in with your partner.
Hazing Awareness and Prevention
Hazing violates WSU’s community values; there is zero tolerance for it. Options for handling hazing include:
Call out hazing behaviors in the moment if safe to do so — this may stop the behavior immediately and helps victims leave the situation. If you don’t feel safe doing so, that’s okay — make a report when you’re in a safe space.
Options for Reporting
- WSU Center for Community Standards
- WSU Compliance and Civil Rights (select ‘Hazing’ dropdown)
- WSU Police or local law enforcement
- A local/national chapter of the organization conducting the hazing
If you or others are in immediate danger or a situation needs to be resolved right away, call 911.
What to Include in Your Report
- What happened?
- Who was involved?
- Was anyone else present to see what occurred?
- When/where did it occur?
- Were there any injuries?
- How did you become aware of the incident?
Even if you can’t answer all the questions above, reporting any information is still helpful.
When hazing is reported — whether involving an individual student or an organization — the Center for Community Standards (CCS) is responsible for investigating the alleged misconduct.
For organizations, CCS first reviews the report to determine appropriate next steps, which may include:
- Contacting the reporting party for more information
- Requesting interviews with witnesses
- Issuing a formal notice of investigation
- Meeting with organizational leaders
- Communicating with chapter members
- Reaching out to national or international governing bodies
If the investigation finds evidence of hazing, the case moves to the resolution phase, which may occur through:
- Mutual agreement
- A conduct officer hearing
- A formal hearing
If the University determines that hazing occurred, the organization will lose its recognition status as a required consequence.
For individual students, CCS follows a similar process:
- The student is notified of the concern
- CCS investigates the reported behavior
- If warranted, the case proceeds to the resolution phase
Annual Hazing Prevention Training for WSU Employees
All WSU faculty and staff (including students, temp hourly, and graduate students) must complete the Hazing Prevention Course within six months of hire, then annually, via Percipio.
The course defines hazing, identifies key WSU policies addressing it, gives examples of “look-fors” for managers supervising staff, and links to resources for alleged hazing incidents. It also covers employee and supervisor responsibilities when hazing misconduct is reported or observed.
Current Student Training: Hazing and Hosting
All incoming and transfer students — undergraduate, graduate, and professional, at all WSU campuses — must be made available a Hazing Prevention Course. Hazing & Hosting is a state-law-specific course emphasizing personal responsibility for hazing and social hosting as it relates to underage drinking, helping students identify forms of hazing and how and when to file a report. See how to access and complete the course here.
Employee Training
WSU mandates training for all university employees on the WSU policy prohibiting discrimination and harassment (UPPM 10.60), which includes information on reporting responsibilities and best practices. In addition, WSU Compliance and Civil Rights (CCR) regularly provides additional training about sexual violence and trauma-informed response information to local law enforcement, appeals board members, university conduct board members, Administrative Law Judges overseeing full adjudicative hearings, and other staff who work with students. Employees for CCR and the Center for Community Standards receive continuous training throughout the year on topics related to all forms of discrimination, including sexual assault, sexual exploitation, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking, as well as how to conduct investigations and hearing processes that protect the safety of victims/survivors and promote accountability.
Mandatory Education for Incoming Students
Every incoming undergraduate student goes through three required education programs on the WSU Everett campus, about bystander intervention, risk reduction, and the definitions and WSU policies in place to respond to sexual assault, sexual exploitation, intimate partner violence, and stalking.
- Safety on Campus: This workshop is offered during the Everett Alive! Orientation and includes information about campus policies, resources, and reporting options for students. In this workshop, students learn about WSU Everett’s safety policies, procedures, emergency protocol, and how to handle themselves in an emergency situation.
- Booze, Sex, and Reality Checks: This workshop helps students transition into our university’s social experience and culture and includes education about consent and sexual decision making. Students under the age of 21 as of the first day of the month of the semester in which they are starting are required to complete this program.
- e-CHUG: This online, confidential survey allows students to receive personalized feedback about the impacts of alcohol and other drug use. First-year students and incoming transfer students under the age of 21 are required to complete this online survey; however, it is an open access survey and available to all students. Most students complete these requirements during Alive! Orientation and Week of Welcome. Students cannot register for a second semester without completing these education programs.
Other programs designed to enhance understanding about sexual assault, sexual exploitation, intimate partner violence, and stalking are provided throughout the academic year. These interactive programs are open to all students on the WSU Everett campus.
Ally Training
The Gender Identity/Expression and Sexual Orientation Resource Center (GIESORC) is respectful of confidentiality and is knowledgeable about resources for members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer community. WSU promotes an atmosphere that is safe, inclusive, and affirming for all members of the campus community and does not condone discrimination. Any faculty, staff, student, or community member may participate in Ally training.
Discrimination, Sexual Harassment, and Sexual Violence Prevention Training
WSU Compliance and Civil Rights (CCR) offers trainings for students, faculty, and staff in person, via video-conferencing, and via on-demand online training, including the WSU Policy Prohibiting Discrimination and Harassment (UPPM 10.60); discrimination, sexual harassment, and sexual violence prevention; university investigative processes; grievance and disciplinary processes; employee reporting and disclosure requirements; available university resources and response; civil rights nondiscrimination law requirements (including Title IX requirements), and targeted training on resources and reporting options for victims of dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking.
Cultural Competency Training
The Office of Outreach and Education (OED), formerly the Office of Equity and Diversity, offers a variety of workshops related to equity and inclusion that provide a link between theory and practical application of concepts related to engaging across difference. These workshops help participants build skills through experiential opportunities that are conducive to an inclusive and engaged campus climate and work environment. Faculty, staff, and administrators may register for Equity Education sessions (currently, the Equity 101 Workshop) via HRS Skills or contact the Office of Outreach and Education to schedule additional workshops at 509-335-5078. In addition, student Peer-to-Peer training is available for student groups presented by the WSU Social Justice Peer Educator Project. To learn more about all training and workshops offered through the Office of Outreach and Education, please visit the OED Website.
If You or a Friend Experiences Sexual Violence
There are several options in seeking care for an individual impacted by sexual violence, which includes sexual assault, sexual exploitation, dating violence, domestic violence, and stalking. WSU provides access to both confidential and non-confidential resources. Victims/survivors are encouraged to access whichever resource they feel most comfortable with.
A current listing of resources for victims/survivors on the Everett campus can be found at CCR Everett Resources. Victims/survivors can choose to seek medical care, even if they are unsure whether they want to make a police report or if they choose not to move forward with a criminal investigation. A healthcare provider can help assess wellbeing and personal safety, provide any necessary medical treatment, and refer students to counseling and other resources.
Healthcare providers at Providence Everett Medical Center offer Sexual Assault Forensic Exams to collect physical evidence for use in a law enforcement investigation and possible prosecution. Victims/survivors do not have to speak to the police in order to receive a forensic exam. Healthcare providers will explain the exam process before beginning and can answer any questions about what will happen during the exam. It is important to preserve any evidence that may be necessary to prove a criminal offense.
Preservation includes refraining from showering or bathing and saving articles of clothing worn during the assault. Victims/survivors have the option to be accompanied by a support person, such as a friend or an advocate, during medical appointments.
Within the community, Victim Support Services also provides support to victims/survivors, as well as support for friends and family of victims/survivors. Their services are free and confidential. VSS can be reached on their 24-hour telephone line at 888-288-9221.
Importance of Preserving Evidence
When an incident of sexual violence occurs, it is important to preserve evidence to aid in a criminal prosecution, university response, and/or in obtaining a protection order. Evidence of physical harm, such as bruising or other visible injuries, should be documented by photographic evidence. Evidence of stalking including communication, such as text messages, voicemail, written notes, social media postings, or any other electronic communication should be saved and not altered in any way. In cases of sexual assault, avoid showering, using a toilet, or changing clothing prior to a medical examination. Any clothing removed should be placed in a paper bag.