Harassment/Discrimination - Title VI

Stanford Commitment and Values

Stanford University is committed to maintaining an educational, working, and living environment free from discrimination, harassment, and retaliation.   

Stanford has policies and practices to ensure compliance with both federal and state laws ensuring freedom from discrimination and harassment.  These laws include, but are not limited to, Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

The Focus of this Website

This website forms part of Stanford’s processes to maintain compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which provides that no person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving federal financial assistance. Title VI’s protections against discrimination based on race, color, and national origin encompass antisemitism and other forms of discrimination when based on shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics (including students and school community members who are or are perceived to be Jewish, Israeli, Muslim, Arab, Sikh, South Asian, Hindu, or Palestinian, among others). Click Here for more information.  

To constitute a violation of Title VI, unwelcome conduct must create a “hostile environment.” This means the conduct must be based upon an individual’s actual or perceived protected class (e.g., race, color, national origin, shared ancestry, or ethnic characteristics) and, considering the totality of the circumstances, be both subjectively and objectively offensive. In addition, the conduct must be sufficiently severe or pervasive to limit or deny a person’s ability to participate in or benefit from a university education program or activity.  Even if these criteria are met, the conduct does not violate Title VI if it is protected speech or expression under the First Amendment as applied to private institutions like Stanford through California’s Leonard Law. (See Freedom of Expression website.)  Accordingly, the Title VI Office routinely conducts a free speech analysis when evaluating reports of alleged Title VI violations.