American University strives to be a community where equitable treatment, opportunities, and outcomes prevail. Improving the institutions and processes that serve our community is an important part of the journey to greater equity and inclusion, and the newly established Office of Equity and Title IX will help address the undue burdens on women, people of color, and underrepresented communities, and promote equity and inclusion for all students, faculty, staff, and other AU colleagues. 

The office will oversee all of our efforts to prevent and respond to discrimination, harassment, and sexual assault and serve faculty, staff, and students. Its responsibilities include formal and informal complaint resolution, training, and prevention and awareness programming. Its mission includes furthering the university’s efforts to dismantle structural racism, eliminate gender-based violence, and address barriers that prevent members of our community from full participation and access.

The office is responsible for the implementation of the following two University policies: Discrimination and Non-Title IX Sexual Misconduct Policy and the Title IX and Sexual Harassment Policy. The latter policy implements the requirements of the new Title IX rules issued by the US Department of Education that went into effect August 14, 2020.

To submit a report, file a complaint, or identify a concern regarding all discrimination, harassment, and sexual misconduct complaints should be submitted online. If you have additional questions or concerns, you can email the Office of Equity & Title IX at equityoffice@american.edu, or by calling at 202-885-8080. 

For general questions about the new Office of Equity and Title IX, please email equityoffice@american.edu.  

More information can be found on the FAQ page.

Ensuring Access Through Community Input

The new office brings together key responsibilities previously distributed across the university, giving members of our community a single point of contact for services related to the prevention of and response to discrimination, harassment, and sexual assault. It was created following months of work and analysis assessing how the university could best serve our community and improve how we prevent and respond to violence, harassment, and discrimination based on race, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, gender expression, pregnancy or parenting, age, religion, disability, or other bases under federal or local laws and regulations. The structure of the office incorporates stakeholder feedback from across the campus, including recommendations from the Bias Response Working Group.