II 

114TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 773 

To prevent harassment at institutions of higher education, and for other 

purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 18, 2015 

Mrs. MURRAY (for herself, Ms. BALDWIN, Mr. BOOKER, Mr. CASEY, Mr. 

FRANKEN, Mrs. GILLIBRAND, Mr. MARKEY, and Mr. MERKLEY) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions 

A BILL 

To prevent harassment at institutions of higher education, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Tyler Clementi Higher 

5 Education Anti-Harassment Act of 2015’’. 

6 SEC. 2. INSTITUTIONAL AND FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE IN7 FORMATION FOR STUDENTS. 

8 Section 485(f) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

9 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)) is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking the subsection heading and in2 serting ‘‘DISCLOSURE OF CAMPUS SECURITY AND

3 HARASSMENT POLICY AND CAMPUS CRIME STATIS4 TICS.’’; 

5 (2) in paragraph (6)(A)— 

6 (A) by redesignating clauses (iii), (iv), and 

7 (v), as clauses (vii), (viii), and (ix), respectively; 

8 and 

9 (B) by inserting after clause (ii) the fol10 lowing: 

11 ‘‘(iii) The term ‘commercial mobile service’ has 

12 the meaning given the term in section 332(d) of the 

13 Communications Act of 1934 (47 U.S.C. 332(d)). 

14 ‘‘(iv) The term ‘electronic communication’ 

15 means any transfer of signs, signals, writing, im16 ages, sounds, or data of any nature transmitted in 

17 whole or in part by a wire, radio, electromagnetic, 

18 photoelectronic, or photooptical system. 

19 ‘‘(v) The term ‘electronic messaging services’ 

20 has the meaning given the term in section 102 of the 

21 Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement 

22 Act (47 U.S.C. 1001). 

23 ‘‘(vi) The term ‘harassment’ means conduct, in24 cluding acts of verbal, nonverbal, or physical aggres25 sion, intimidation, or hostility (including conduct 


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1 that is undertaken in whole or in part, through the 

2 use of electronic messaging services, commercial mo3 bile services, electronic communications, or other 

4 technology) that— 

5 ‘‘(I) is sufficiently severe, persistent, or 

6 pervasive so as to limit a student’s ability to 

7 participate in or benefit from a program or ac8 tivity at an institution of higher education, or 

9 to create a hostile or abusive educational envi10 ronment at an institution of higher education; 

11 and 

12 ‘‘(II) is based on a student’s actual or per13 ceived— 

14 ‘‘(aa) race; 

15 ‘‘(bb) color; 

16 ‘‘(cc) national origin; 

17 ‘‘(dd) sex; 

18 ‘‘(ee) disability; 

19 ‘‘(ff) sexual orientation; 

20 ‘‘(gg) gender identity; or 

21 ‘‘(hh) religion.’’; 

22 (3) by redesignating paragraphs (9) through 

23 (18) as paragraphs (10) through (19), respectively; 

24 and 


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1 (4) by inserting after paragraph (8) the fol2 lowing: 

3 ‘‘(9)(A) Each institution of higher education partici4 pating in any program under this title, other than a for5 eign institution of higher education, shall develop and dis6 tribute as part of the report described in paragraph (1) 

7 a statement of policy regarding harassment, which shall 

8 include— 

9 ‘‘(i) a prohibition of harassment of enrolled stu10 dents by other students, faculty, and staff— 

11 ‘‘(I) on campus; 

12 ‘‘(II) in noncampus buildings or on non13 campus property; 

14 ‘‘(III) on public property; 

15 ‘‘(IV) through the use of electronic mail 

16 addresses issued by the institution of higher 

17 education; 

18 ‘‘(V) through the use of computers and 

19 communication networks, including any tele20 communications service, owned, operated, or 

21 contracted for use by the institution of higher 

22 education or its agents; or 

23 ‘‘(VI) during an activity sponsored by the 

24 institution of higher education or carried out 


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1 with the use of resources provided by the insti2 tution of higher education; 

3 ‘‘(ii) a description of the institution’s programs 

4 to combat harassment, which shall be aimed at the 

5 prevention of harassment; 

6 ‘‘(iii) a description of the procedures that a stu7 dent should follow if an incident of harassment oc8 curs; and 

9 ‘‘(iv) a description of the procedures that the 

10 institution will follow once an incident of harassment 

11 has been reported. 

12 ‘‘(B) The statement of policy described in subpara13 graph (A) shall address the following areas: 

14 ‘‘(i) Procedures for timely institutional action in 

15 cases of alleged harassment, which procedures shall 

16 include a clear statement that the accuser and the 

17 accused shall be informed of the outcome of any dis18 ciplinary proceedings in response to an allegation of 

19 harassment. 

20 ‘‘(ii) Possible sanctions to be imposed following 

21 the final determination of an institutional discipli22 nary procedure regarding harassment. 

23 ‘‘(iii) Notification of existing counseling, mental 

24 health, or student services for victims or perpetraVerDate Sep 11 2014 07:11 Mar 21, 2015 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S773.IS S773

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1 tors of harassment, both on campus and in the com2 munity. 

3 ‘‘(iv) Identification of a designated employee or 

4 office at the institution that will be responsible for 

5 receiving and tracking each report of harassment by 

6 a student, faculty, or staff member.’’. 

7 SEC. 3. ANTI-HARASSMENT COMPETITIVE GRANT PRO8 GRAM. 

9 (a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

10 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti11 ty’’ means— 

12 (A) an institution of higher education, in13 cluding an institution of higher education in a 

14 collaborative partnership with a nonprofit orga15 nization; or 

16 (B) a consortium of institutions of higher 

17 education located in the same State. 

18 (2) HARASSMENT.—The term ‘‘harassment’’ 

19 has the meaning given the term in section 

20 485(f)(6)(A) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

21 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(6)(A)), as amended by section 2 

22 of this Act. 

23 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

24 the Secretary of Education. 


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1 (b) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—The Secretary is au2 thorized to award grants, on a competitive basis, to eligible 

3 entities to enable eligible entities to carry out the author4 ized activities described in subsection (d). 

5 (c) AMOUNT OF GRANT AWARDS.—The Secretary 

6 shall ensure that each grant awarded under this section 

7 is of sufficient amount to enable the grantee to meet the 

8 purpose of this section. 

9 (d) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—An eligible entity 

10 that receives a grant under this section shall use the funds 

11 made available through the grant to address one or more 

12 of the types of harassment listed in section 

13 485(f)(6)(A)(vi)(II) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 

14 (20 U.S.C. 1092(f)(6)(A)(vi)(II)), as amended by section 

15 2 of this Act, by initiating, expanding, or improving pro16 grams— 

17 (1) to prevent the harassment of students at in18 stitutions of higher education; 

19 (2) at institutions of higher education that pro20 vide counseling or redress services to students who 

21 have suffered such harassment or students who have 

22 been accused of subjecting other students to such 

23 harassment; or 

24 (3) that educate or train students, faculty, or 

25 staff of institutions of higher education about ways 


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1 to prevent harassment or ways to address such har2 assment if it occurs. 

3 (e) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a grant 

4 under this section, an eligible entity shall submit an appli5 cation to the Secretary at such time, in such manner, and 

6 containing such information, as the Secretary may re7 quire. 

8 (f) DURATION; RENEWAL.—A grant under this sec9 tion shall be awarded for a period of not more than 3 

10 years. The Secretary may renew a grant under this section 

11 for one additional period of not more than 2 years. 

12 (g) AWARD CONSIDERATIONS.—In awarding a grant 

13 under this section, the Secretary shall select eligible enti14 ties that demonstrate the greatest need for a grant and 

15 the greatest potential benefit from receipt of a grant. 

16 (h) REPORT AND EVALUATION.— 

17 (1) EVALUATION AND REPORT TO THE SEC18 RETARY.—Not later than 6 months after the end of 

19 the eligible entity’s grant period, the eligible entity 

20 shall— 

21 (A) evaluate the effectiveness of the activi22 ties carried out with the use of funds awarded 

23 pursuant to this section in decreasing harass24 ment and improving tolerance; and 


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1 (B) prepare and submit to the Secretary a 

2 report on the results of the evaluation con3 ducted by the entity. 

4 (2) EVALUATION AND REPORT TO CONGRESS.— 

5 Not later than 12 months after the date of receipt 

6 of the first report submitted pursuant to paragraph 

7 (1) and annually thereafter, the Secretary shall pro8 vide to Congress a report that includes the following: 

9 (A) The number and types of eligible enti10 ties receiving assistance under this section. 

11 (B) The anti-harassment programs being 

12 implemented with assistance under this section 

13 and the costs of such programs. 

14 (C) Any other information determined by 

15 the Secretary to be useful in evaluating the 

16 overall effectiveness of the program established 

17 under this section in decreasing incidents of 

18 harassment at institutions of higher education. 

19 (3) BEST PRACTICES REPORT.—The Secretary 

20 shall use the information provided under paragraph 

21 (1) to publish a report of best practices for com22 bating harassment at institutions of higher edu23 cation. The report shall be made available to all in24 stitutions of higher education and other interested 

25 parties. 


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1 (i) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

2 are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

3 $50,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2016 through 2021. 

4 SEC. 4. EFFECT ON OTHER LAWS. 

5 Nothing in this Act shall be construed to invalidate 

6 or limit rights, remedies, procedures, or legal standards 

7 available to victims of discrimination under any other Fed8 eral law or law of a State or political subdivision of a 

9 State, including title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 

10 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), title IX of the Education 

11 Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 1681 et seq.), section 

12 504 or 505 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. 

13 794, 794a), or the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 

14 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). The obligations imposed by this 

15 Act are in addition to those imposed by title VI of the 

16 Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000d et seq.), title 

17 IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. 

18 1681 et seq.), section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 

19 1973 (29 U.S.C. 794), and the Americans with Disabil20 ities Act of 1990 (42 U.S.C. 12101 et seq.). 

Æ 


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