AU has a new system in place to help students and staff report sexual harassment and discrimination of any kind.
The new system can be found at the bottom of the AU website home page under “Resources” and is one click away for anyone who needs it. Once a student or staff member has clicked on the “Title IX” tab, they will be brought to the Title IX screen where they can then click to “Report Misconduct.” They will then be prompted to the new system.
When reporting an incident within the Title IX tab, the only people who will see it are the Title IX coordinators, Director of Human Resources Tim States and Dean of Students Chris Luekenga.
“The main reason for the new system is to make it easier to make any type of report,” Luekenga said.
This system is also the same portal used to report any other type of complaint regarding employees.
The new system is called “Lighthouse” and allows users to report any type of misconduct on the same screen, rather than having to be redirected to another site like in the past.
“Lighthouse also makes it easier to go back and check up on the status of your complaint,” said Luekenga. “You can do this by making a pin the same time that you report the incident that only you will know so you can see where things are going in your case.”
The administration wants to assure the campus community that the Lighthouse system is extremely confidential.
When a user makes a report, the Title IX coordinators will contact the individual directly when working on the case to allow the user to feel safe and secure during the process.
The Lighthouse system also has a way to make a report while being completely anonymous. The report will still be filed to the university, but there will be no known names and no way to know who made the report. This information can be used by the Title IX coordinators to investigate the offender while the victim will always remain anonymous.
AU will not tolerate sexual misconduct in any form and any misconduct will be dealt with promptly. When an allegation of misconduct is reported, protective and other remedial measures will be used to reasonably ensure that such conduct ends and is not repeated.
The university defines sexual misconduct to include a broad spectrum of violent behavior including but not limited to sexual violence, sexual harassment, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking or any other nonconsensual sexually-related conduct. The university also prohibits gender-based harassment, which may include acts of verbal, nonverbal or physical aggression, as well as intimidation or hostility based on sex or sex-stereotyping.