DigiPen adheres to all federal, state, and local civil rights laws prohibiting discrimination and harassment in employment and education. DigiPen does not discriminate in its admissions practices, employment practices, or educational programs or activities on the basis of sex, except as may be permitted by law. As a recipient of federal financial assistance for education activities, DigiPen is required by Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (Title IX) to ensure that all of its education programs and activities do not discriminate on the basis of sex. Sex includes sex assigned at birth, sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, gender identity, sexual orientation, and pregnancy or related conditions. Sex discrimination is prohibited under Title IX and by DigiPen Policy, and it includes sex-based harassment, sexual assault, dating and domestic violence, stalking, quid pro quo harassment, hostile environment harassment, disparate treatment, and disparate impact.
Title IX Coordinator and Deputy Coordinators
DigiPen Institute of Technology officer(s) charged with investigating all complaints of violations of the Sexual Misconduct Policy, Anti-Harassment Policy, and the Anti-Discrimination Policy
Title IX Coordinator
Angela Kugler
akugler@digipen.edu
(425) 895-4438
Deputy Title IX Coordinator - Student Cases
Patrick Dezort
patrick.dezort@digipen.edu
(425) 522-5025
Deputy Title IX Coordinator - Employee Cases
Alicia Cappola
alicia.cappola@digipen.edu
(425) 629-5068
Please report potential Title IX incidents by completing an Incident Report or by emailing titleix@us.digipen.edu, and a member of the Title IX team will be in touch with you soon.
Statement of Policy
DigiPen is committed to maintaining a positive emotional and physical environment in which all students have an equal opportunity to achieve success. DigiPen will not tolerate any acts of harassment or non-consensual sexual activity. Intimidation, harassment, and sexual misconduct violate the standards of acceptable behavior and academic freedom of all students on campus and in the DigiPen community.
To view the full Title IX policies and processes, please visit:
Anti-Harassment Policy
DigiPen prohibits harassment of any kind between faculty/staff and students, between students and students, between faculty/staff/students and others, on the basis of age (40 years and over in the employment context), citizenship status, color, creed, disability (physical or mental), domestic violence victim status, ethnicity, family responsibilities, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information (including family medical history), height, marital status, national origin (including ancestry), personal appearance, place of business, political belief or affiliation, pregnancy or related conditions, race, religion, residence, sex, sexual orientation, source of income, veteran or military status (including disabled veteran, recently separated veteran, active-duty, wartime, or campaign badge veteran, and Armed Forces Service Medal veteran), weight, or any other protected characteristic under applicable local, state, or federal law, including protections for those opposing discrimination or participating in any grievance process within the institution, with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and/or other human/civil rights agency. DigiPen policy prohibits inappropriate conduct and reserves the right to sanction students for behaviors that it deems inappropriate, even though the instance of harassment may not reach the legal standard for harassment.
Anti-Discrimination Policy
DigiPen Institute of Technology is committed to maintaining a diverse community in an atmosphere of mutual respect for and appreciation of differences. DigiPen Institute of Technology does not discriminate in its educational and employment policies on the basis of age (40 years and over in the employment context), citizenship status, color, creed, disability (physical or mental), domestic violence victim status, ethnicity, family responsibilities, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information (including family medical history), height, marital status, national origin (including ancestry), personal appearance, place of business, political belief or affiliation, pregnancy or related conditions, race, religion, residence, sex, sexual orientation, source of income, veteran or military status (including disabled veteran, recently separated veteran, active-duty, wartime, or campaign badge veteran, and Armed Forces Service Medal veteran), weight, or any other protected characteristic under applicable local, state, or federal law, including protections for those opposing discrimination or participating in any grievance process within the institution, with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, and/or other human/civil rights agency.
Resources
These resources are available for students following an incident of harassment or discrimination:
On-Campus Resources
Confidential Resources
Confidential resources are DigiPen employees with whom an individual can have a privileged communication. Privileged communications cannot legally be disclosed to another person without the consent of the individual who originally provided the information, except under very limited circumstances such as allegations involving the physical or sexual abuse of a child or vulnerable adult or an imminent threat to the life of any person. DigiPen’s confidential resources are listed as follows:
- DigiPen Counseling Staff, including the Director and all Mental Health Counselors counseling@digipen.edu (425) 629-5015
Non-Confidential Resources
Responsible Employees (“Mandated Reporters”)
DigiPen’s responsible employees are required to report all details of an incident (including the identities of both the reporting party and respondent) to DigiPen’s Title IX Coordinator. To file a report of an incident of sexual misconduct, please contact a responsible employee.
Most members of the DigiPen community are considered responsible employees and are therefore obligated to report to DigiPen any information they receive about sexual misconduct. Employees who are categorized as responsible employees include (but are not limited to):
- DigiPen’s Title IX Coordinator
- Deputy Title IX Coordinators
- Student Affairs staff
- All faculty members
- Members of DigiPen’s general Administration staff
- Resident Assistants
- Students employed in their work-related positions
Talking with any of these individuals constitutes a report to DigiPen. DigiPen commences the Title IX investigative procedures, described later in this chapter, in response to all reports of sexual misconduct.
Off-Campus Resources
DigiPen provides this directory as a resource for students in crisis. DigiPen is not officially partnered with any of the following off campus resources.
Redmond Police
8701 160th Avenue NE
Redmond, WA 98052
Main Phone: 425-556-2500
Evergreen Hospital Emergency Dept.
8980 161st Avenue NE
Redmond, WA 98052
Main Phone: 425-899-1111
King County Sexual Assault Resource Center
24 Hour Resource Line: 888-998-6423
National Sexual Assault Hotline
800-656-HOPE (4673)
Reporting an Instance of Sexual Misconduct
To report an instance of sexual misconduct, students should contact any responsible employee of DigiPen.
DigiPen encourages the reporting party of sexual misconduct to talk to a responsible employee so that the reporting party can get the support they need and so DigiPen can begin the Title IX investigation procedures.
Individuals can also report an incident directly to the Title IX Coordinator by completing the online Incident Report form.
Reporting To Responsible Employees
The following employees (or categories of employees) are DigiPen’s responsible employees:
- DigiPen’s Title IX Coordinator
- Deputy Title IX Coordinators
- Student Affairs staff
- All faculty members
- Members of DigiPen’s general Administration staff
- Resident Assistants
- Students employed in their work-related positions
A responsible employee must report to a Title IX Coordinator all relevant details about the alleged sexual misconduct shared by the reporting party. Responsible employees are required to report any potential violation of the sexual misconduct policy to a Title IX Coordinator. If the reporting party wants to tell the responsible employee what happened but also maintain confidentiality, DigiPen will consider the request, but cannot guarantee that it will be honored. While reporting the details of the incident to a Title IX Coordinator, the responsible employee will also inform the Title IX Coordinator of the reporting party’s request for confidentiality. To the extent possible, information reported to a responsible employee will be shared only with people responsible for handling DigiPen’s response to the report. A responsible employee should not share information with law enforcement without the reporting party’s consent or unless the reporting party has also reported the incident to law enforcement. When a reporting party tells a responsible employee about an incident of sexual misconduct, the reporting party has the right to expect DigiPen to take immediate and appropriate steps to investigate what happened and to resolve the matter promptly and equitably.
The responsible employee takes the report of sexual misconduct, fills out an Incident Report, and then submits that Incident Report to the Title IX Coordinator.
Confidentiality
Different employees on campus have different abilities to maintain a reporting party’s confidentiality.
Confidential resources are required to maintain near complete confidentiality; talking to a confidential resource is sometimes called a privileged communication (e.g. counselor).
All other employees (excluding those with privileged communication) are considered responsible employees (sometimes also called mandated reporters) and are required to report all the details of an incident (including the identities of both the reporting party and respondent) to the Title IX Coordinator. A report from these employees constitutes a report to DigiPen and obligates DigiPen to commence the Title IX investigative procedures.
External Authorities and Incidents of Sexual Misconduct
DigiPen’s process will proceed as stated in the Title IX Investigation Process section of this Sexual Misconduct Policy independent of the reporting party’s filing of a police report. Responsibility lies with the individual student, not DigiPen, to take such action with external authorities. DigiPen may consult with and review information provided by municipal authorities, but DigiPen makes its independent determination about whether or not the Code of Student Conduct has been violated. DigiPen’s investigation and ultimate decision regarding the complaint proceed independently of decisions made or not made by law enforcement authorities and/or by a court of law.
A person may also file a complaint with the appropriate federal, state, or local agency within the time frame required by law. Depending upon the nature of the complaint, the appropriate agency may be the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR), the Department of Justice, the Equal Opportunity Commission, and/or another appropriate federal or state agency.
Seattle Office
Office for Civil Rights
U.S. Department of Education
915 Second Avenue Room 3310
Seattle, WA 98174-1099
Telephone: 206-607-1600
FAX: 206-607-1601; TDD: 800-877-8339
Email: OCR.Seattle@ed.gov
Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights
Office for Civil Rights, National Headquarters
U.S. Department of Education
Lyndon Baines Johnson Dept. of Education Building
400 Maryland Avenue, SW
Washington, DC 20202-1100
Telephone: 800-421-3481
Fax: 202-453-6012; TDD: 800-877-8339
Email: OCR@ed.gov
Training Materials
Title IX 2020 Regulations mandate the publishing of materials used to train DigiPen’s Title IX team. To attain the Title IX Solutions Certificate of Completion, the Title IX team acquired in-house training as well as training through Title IX compliance experts. View each training session to see how lessons were administered to team members:
To request training materials used on or after August 1, 2024, please email the Title IX Coordinator.
*Assistive technologies may have trouble reading these files, and a future update aims to improve accessibility.
†These materials are the exclusive property of Title IX Solutions, LLC. All rights reserved, ©2022. The publishing of these materials on this website is authorized by Title IX Solutions, LLC solely for use by this institution in compliance with Regulation 34 CFR §106.45(b)(10)(i)(D). No other use or dissemination by this institution or any third party is authorized without the prior written consent of Title IX Solutions, LLC.
The information and materials provided during this program were for educational purposes only and not intended to be legal advice. Attendees should seek independent legal advice concerning the issues presented.