Important Warnings About this Office
We represent neither side.
It is important to point out that the MU Equity Office does not represent you. But neither do we represent the accused individual or MU management. We actually represent The Institution.
When we investigate, it is our job to identify discrimination and unfair practices and seek to eliminate them should they exist -- and if that means telling people that they are behaving badly, or doing something that violates the non-discrimination laws, we will tell them forthrightly.
But on the flip side, if behavior is not discriminatory or inequitable, it is equally our function to support academic freedom and the rights of professors and supervisors to make decisions and choices that may impact you in ways you do not like. If that turns out to be the case, we will tell you so forthrightly and suggest the options that you have should you disagree.
We cannot always take the action you most prefer.
As we said before, the action that the office takes once we become aware of a situation is not solely up to you. There may be instances when we are required to take the issue further than you would like. It’s important for you to understand why that is.
We do that because this office represents MU and as an institution MU must attempt to take effective action to prevent further acts of discrimination. Generally speaking, we support taking the lowest level effective action. If, for example, we can be fairly sure that the discriminatory behavior is effectively dealt with simply by talking to the accused individual, then we have no need to take further action.
But an example of a situation where we might need to go beyond your wishes would be if the accused has a history with this office that shows that we have already tried talking/education. It then becomes likely that the university would need to take stronger measures to ensure that the violative behavior is effectively addressed, regardless of your personal preferences.
We will protect your privacy to the extent we can.
The Equity Office will keep case information private to the extent possible.
If we do not need to disclose your identity in order to resolve the issues, then we will not do so. Conversely, should it be necessary to identify you in order to resolve your concerns then we reserve the right to do so – although we would advise you of the need to reveal your name.
If we actually conduct a full investigation, we will have to release your name so that the accused can present a response and so that witnesses can confirm or deny your allegations.
We reserve the right to disclose information on a need-to-know basis to others within the university, or to external agencies with a legal right to the information.