Office of Student Services

Sexual Harassment & Violence Support

Lake Washington Institute of Technology (LWTech) recognizes its responsibility for investigation, resolution, implementation of corrective measures, and monitoring of the educational environment and workplace to stop, remediate, and prevent all manners of discrimination. To this end, LWTech has enacted a Title IX Policy and Discrimination and Harassment Complaint Procedure statement prohibiting discrimination or harassment against any employee, student, applicant or visitor, and including legally defined members of a protected class. Any individual found to be in violation of this policy will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal from the college or from employment.

Any employee, student, applicant, or visitor who believes that he, she or they have been the subject of discrimination or harassment should report the incident or incidents to the college's Title IX Coordinator.

Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination

The RISE Center: Resources for Inclusion, Support, and Empowerment was created to foster an inclusive and welcoming campus community for all students, regardless of identity and background. RISE Center programs and services support students who experience harassment and discrimination on campus, while also aiming to prevent these incidents from occurring through educational programming and interventions.

 

Title IX & LGBTQ Protections

Lake Washington Institute of Technology provides protections from discrimination and harassment for individuals based on their sexual orientation, gender identity, or gender expression.

In 2006, Chapter 49.60 RCW, the Washington Law Against Discrimination, was amended to prohibit discrimination on the basis of "sexual orientation." The term "sexual orientation" is defined to include "heterosexuality, homosexuality, bisexuality, and gender expression or identity." The term "gender expression or identity" is in turn defined as "having or being perceived as having a gender identity, self-image, appearance, behavior, or expression, whether or not that gender identity, self-image, appearance, behavior, or expression is different from that traditionally associated with the sex assigned to that person at birth."

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in education programs and activities that receive federal funding. Recently, federal agencies have been interpreting federal laws, such as Title IX, to provide protections for individuals based on their LGBTQ status that have not, to date, been clearly identified in those federal laws.

The Title IX Coordinator provides support relating to compliance with Title IX and all relevant laws and regulations that provide LGBTQ protections, not only to facilitate compliance, but to enhance and support a culture of inclusion at the college.