H.R.2747: Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act of 2019
Overview
The Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act would require higher education institutions who receive federal funding to implement an anti-harassment policy “prohibiting the harassment of enrolled students based on their actual or perceived race, color, national origin, sex (including sexual orientation, gender identity, pregnancy, childbirth, a medical condition related to pregnancy or childbirth, and a sex stereotype), disability, or religion.”
Additionally, the legislation defines cyberbullying as harassment though electronic communications, such as messaging, social media, streaming services, and the like. Federally funded schools would be required to distribute a formal harassment policy within a security report to all students and staff annually.
The Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act would also establish a grant program that would award additional funds to institutions for the purposes of building or expanding programs that counsel students who have been subject to harassment, and train students and staff to prevent harassment and to address it when it occurs. The bill would appropriate $50,000,000 for fiscal years 2020-2025 to carry out the grant program.
Talking Points
- National Assembly envisions equity as the condition in which differences among people have no influence on how they fare in society.
- Equity is advanced through the implementation of policies, practices, attitudes, and cultural messages that prevent differential outcomes based on the differences among people. This requires a continuous reevaluation of norms, and a commitment to eliminating policies, practices, and systems that perpetuate inequity, so that all people are fully welcomed, valued, respected, and heard.
- All students, regardless of sexual orientation, gender, race, disability, and the like deserve equal access to opportunity in higher education.
- The National Assembly supports H.R. 2747, legislation that promotes the safety and well-being of all students so that everyone can thrive.