HARASSMENT IS NOT PART OF YOUR JOB!You have the right to a safe workplace on campus. |
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WHAT IS TITLE IX?
Title IX is a piece of legislation that, in part, prohibits discrimination and ensures that all students have equal access in any education program or activity, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity. Under Title IX, discrimination can include sexual harassment, rape, and sexual assault, and can occur in on- or off-campus locations. WHAT ARE THE PROPOSED CHANGES? The proposed changes to Title IX remove many survivor protections and can allow universities to sweep harassment, assault and discrimination charges under the rug. These changes include: •Narrowing the definition of sexual harassment. Now survivors will have to endure severe, repeated, or escalating harassment before they can file a Title IX complaint. •Establishing a legal definition of “sex”, thereby disenfranchising Trans, Genderqueer, and Nonconforming (TGQN) people. •Limiting who survivors can report harassment and abuse to. Reports made by someone other than the victim (like a trusted advisor or coach) or outside of the Title IX office will likely not be valid. •Lowering the burden on institutions to provide prompt corrective action and remedy a hostile environment once it’s been notified or should have known that harassment was occurring. •Limiting reportable offenses, including removing the requirement that schools investigate incidents that happen off campus. HOW CAN OUR UNION HELP PROTECT GRADUATE STUDENT EMPLOYEES? A union is an organized group of workers who unite to make decisions about their working conditions. Sexual harassment and violence is a workplace safety issue, and eliminating it from the work environment is a top priority for our Graduate Student Organizing Committee (GSOC). Together, as a union, we can better protect ourselves by:
SOME STATS ON SEXUAL HARASSMENT AND DISCRIMINATION According to the latest American Association of Universities Campus Climate Survey (2015) about 60% of lesbian and gay students and 70% of bisexual students report being sexually harassed on campus. At Pitt specifically, the survey shows that 38% of female and 26.8% of male grads report experiencing sexual harassment. An alarming 64% of Pitt’s TGQN graduate students report experiencing sexual harassment. 1:5 women, and nearly 50% of all LGBTQIA+ students will experience sexual assault during their college career. |
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A letter from GSOC member Brennan Chambre on the proposed Title IX changes
Dear students and employees of the University of Pittsburgh,
My name is Brennan Chambre. As a graduate employee in English, I have had the privilege of teaching writing to undergraduates for the past two and a half years. In my classes, I get to watch students from across the disciplines learn to tell their stories, in voices that grow surer every week.
For those students who have experienced sexual assault—and they are many—the confidence of their voices rises against all odds, in a world where the powerful are ever seeking new ways to undermine us.
Indeed, just last month, the latest in a seemingly endless wave of aftershocks was unleashed by the Department of Education. Aiming to “protect the rights of the accused,” the sweeping proposed changes to Federal Title IX regulations would in fact silence survivors, keeping them from seeking support and justice, and define transgender, genderqueer and non-binary people out of existence.
Since women, people of color and LGBTQIA+ people make up the most frequent victims of sexual harassment and assault, these changes constitute a wholesale attack on the most vulnerable members of our Pitt community.
As a survivor of sexual assault myself, and a transgender woman who began transitioning here at Pitt, I have been utterly shaken by these proposed changes, but I'm writing you today, with this utmost urgency, because we can stand firm, if we stand together.
So what is do be done? While the Department of Education has the full power of the Trump administration behind it, we have our own power in our numbers, as employees and students. For undergraduates and graduate workers at Pitt, the best way to fill any gaps in the law and university policy is as a union, with a legally binding contract.
Indeed, we’ve already won some victories as the Graduate Student Organizing Committee (GSOC). For example, when Trump’s grad tax bill threatened to make higher education even less accessible by taxing tuition waiver funds, we joined graduate employees across the country in calling our legislators in Washington and rallying right here in Oakland. And that tax was defeated!
If this is what we can do without a contract, think of what we could do with one! A union contact could provide clear language addressing sexual harassment and discrimination, a grievance procedure, protection against retaliation for reporting incidents, and requirements that provide victims access to adequate mental health services.
As a union, we can also push for better training, education and leadership development which will work to eradicate harassment. We can create channels such as trained stewards, elected from among our colleagues, in every department, for members to report harassment quickly, before it escalates, and without having to resort to formal mechanisms. This is especially important because most victims are understandably hesitant to go through an intimidating formal process.
To these ends, as the union of graduate employees at Pitt, we ask all members of the Pitt community to join us:
By organizing, we can protect each other, no matter what the Department of Education decides. And by organizing a union of graduate employees at Pitt, we can do even more. We can work not only to defend our lives as they are, but to improve them, to advocate for a learning environment that is truly safe, healthy and democratic. Thank you for your support. If you have any questions or would like to talk more about getting involved in our union, please feel free to contact me directly at brennan.chambre@pitt.edu.
In solidarity,
Brennan Chambre
English, MFA Candidate in Nonfiction
Dear students and employees of the University of Pittsburgh,
My name is Brennan Chambre. As a graduate employee in English, I have had the privilege of teaching writing to undergraduates for the past two and a half years. In my classes, I get to watch students from across the disciplines learn to tell their stories, in voices that grow surer every week.
For those students who have experienced sexual assault—and they are many—the confidence of their voices rises against all odds, in a world where the powerful are ever seeking new ways to undermine us.
Indeed, just last month, the latest in a seemingly endless wave of aftershocks was unleashed by the Department of Education. Aiming to “protect the rights of the accused,” the sweeping proposed changes to Federal Title IX regulations would in fact silence survivors, keeping them from seeking support and justice, and define transgender, genderqueer and non-binary people out of existence.
Since women, people of color and LGBTQIA+ people make up the most frequent victims of sexual harassment and assault, these changes constitute a wholesale attack on the most vulnerable members of our Pitt community.
As a survivor of sexual assault myself, and a transgender woman who began transitioning here at Pitt, I have been utterly shaken by these proposed changes, but I'm writing you today, with this utmost urgency, because we can stand firm, if we stand together.
So what is do be done? While the Department of Education has the full power of the Trump administration behind it, we have our own power in our numbers, as employees and students. For undergraduates and graduate workers at Pitt, the best way to fill any gaps in the law and university policy is as a union, with a legally binding contract.
Indeed, we’ve already won some victories as the Graduate Student Organizing Committee (GSOC). For example, when Trump’s grad tax bill threatened to make higher education even less accessible by taxing tuition waiver funds, we joined graduate employees across the country in calling our legislators in Washington and rallying right here in Oakland. And that tax was defeated!
If this is what we can do without a contract, think of what we could do with one! A union contact could provide clear language addressing sexual harassment and discrimination, a grievance procedure, protection against retaliation for reporting incidents, and requirements that provide victims access to adequate mental health services.
As a union, we can also push for better training, education and leadership development which will work to eradicate harassment. We can create channels such as trained stewards, elected from among our colleagues, in every department, for members to report harassment quickly, before it escalates, and without having to resort to formal mechanisms. This is especially important because most victims are understandably hesitant to go through an intimidating formal process.
To these ends, as the union of graduate employees at Pitt, we ask all members of the Pitt community to join us:
- Submit a comment through the Federal eRulemaking Portal. Your comment can be as personal as you would like, with the note that the government divides comments into substantive and non-substantive categories when weighing responses. Start with a basic introduction (who you are, why this matters to you), and then list a few of the ways you believe these new regulations would cause harm to survivors. Conclude by urging the Department of Education to strike these proposed sections of the rule. The comment period ends on January 28th.
- Help us organize our graduate student Union around this important issue. As a union, with contract language to protect vulnerable members of our grad community, we can make sure that Pitt is listening to its Graduate Employees. To get involved please sign a support card, speak to a GSOC committee member, or email us at info@pittgradunion.org.
- Sign our petition calling on Pitt to set a better standard for how Title IX complaints are handled. Find us on social media and around campus to sign!
- Come to our town hall meeting on Title IX, to be held in January. We welcome all voices, and urge you to contact us if you have questions or would like to help plan the event.
- Stay organized and be ready to mobilize. Follow us on social media to learn more about upcoming actions and events to make our voices heard in public!
By organizing, we can protect each other, no matter what the Department of Education decides. And by organizing a union of graduate employees at Pitt, we can do even more. We can work not only to defend our lives as they are, but to improve them, to advocate for a learning environment that is truly safe, healthy and democratic. Thank you for your support. If you have any questions or would like to talk more about getting involved in our union, please feel free to contact me directly at brennan.chambre@pitt.edu.
In solidarity,
Brennan Chambre
English, MFA Candidate in Nonfiction
USW WITH INPUT FROM PITT GRADUATE WORKERS URGES DEPT. OF EDUCATION TO WITHDRAWAL PROPOSED CHANGES TO TITLE IX
| 19_01_30_usw_comments_to_dept_of_edu_proposed_title_ix_revisions.pdf |
