Senators Renew Push for College Anti-Harassment Bill

Two Democratic senators on Thursday introduced legislation that would require colleges and universities receiving federal aid to establish anti-harassment policies that include cyberbullying. 

Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., and Sen. Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., reintroduced the Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act, which was first proposed by the late Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., who died in June. Tyler Clementi was a freshman at Rutgers University who committed suicide in 2010 after being harassed over the Internet by a roommate who streamed his romantic encounter. 

"No student or employee should have to live in fear of being who they are," Baldwin said in a statement. "Our schools should not be, and cannot be a place of discrimination, harassment, bullying, intimidation or violence."

Harassment and cyberbullying aren't just limited to elementary, middle and high schools. Research shows those behaviors often continue after students begin college.

In a 2011 study from Indiana State University, nearly 22 percent of college students reported being cyberbullied, and 15 percent reported being bullied. Of those who reported being cyberbullied, 25 percent said it happened through a social networking website, 21 percent said it was via text messages, 16 percent said the harassment took place through email and 13 percent said it occurred through instant messages. 

Still, there is no federal requirement that colleges and universities have policies to protect students, faculty and staff from harassment, a summary of the bill says. That doesn't mean, however, that no schools have policies to deal with harassment – it just isn't mandated by the federal government.

Additionally, there is no federal funding available for colleges and universities to establish or improve programs that would help prevent and reduce harassment against students.

If enacted, the legislation would take on both issues.

It first would require colleges and universities that receive federal aid to create anti-harassment policies that ban the harassment of enrolled students "based on their actual or perceived race, color, national origin, sex, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religion," and to distribute that policy to all students and employees.

"Thankfully, this bill gets to the heart of this issue by ensuring students and schools alike have the tools and resources necessary to not only prevent this epidemic of harassment, but assist victims who are too often left with no sense of closure or recourse for their perpetrators," Murray said in a statement. "No student – whether they’re gay, straight, black, white, Christian, or Muslim – should have to face discrimination and harassment in their pursuit of education."

The bill also would create a competitive grant program that would award winning schools federal funds for three years to initiate, expand or improve programs that prevent harassment, provide counseling or redress services to victims, or educate and train students and employees about ways to prevent and address harassment.

“This legislation is an important step forward in not only preventing and addressing harassment on campus, but also making sure our students have the freedom to succeed in safe and healthy communities of learning and achievement," Baldwin said in the statement. “Everyone deserves a fair shot at our colleges and universities across America and this legislation will help ensure people can pursue their dreams free of harassment and bullying."