Bias Education Response Team (BERT)

1. A completed bias incident report is sent to the Bias Education Response Team.
2. The BERT team reviews the report and identifies necessary support.
3. A plan of action is developed and communicated.
4. BERT issues invitations to involved parties to implement a plan of action and begin the incident resolution process.

At the University of Lynchburg, any occurrence where a person or group of people are treated with prejudice based on age, color, disability, gender identity or expression, genetic information, military status, national origin, pregnancy, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex, and sexual orientation may count as a bias incident.

You may be the target of a bias incident or witness a bias incident against someone else.

Bias is a prejudice for or against a person or a group of people, usually in a way that is considered unfair.

Anyone on campus or in the greater community affiliated with the University of Lynchburg can report a bias incident.

Bias incident reports are initially sent to the chair of the BERT committee and shared with the Bias Education Response Team. The team, if necessary, will work with relevant stakeholders to facilitate a resolution.

The Bias Education Response Team aims to keep all correspondence as confidential as possible. In select cases, such as assaults, information from the bias incident report may need to be shared with other parties, including the Title IX Coordinator when the incident involves allegations of sexual or gender-based harassment or sexual assault, Campus Safety and Security, and University administration. These reports are made in partnership with the persons making the claim.

*Reports alleging sexual or gender-based harassment and/or sexual assault are forwarded to the Title IX Coordinator for potential review under the Interpersonal Misconduct Policy.

Yes. In the Bias Incident Reporting Form, you can select an option that records the incident and notifies the BERT that you DO NOT wish to further engage or seek resolution. This allows the incident to be reported and aggregated for University tracking without any further engagement on your part.

Also, if submitting this report anonymously, you have the option to select whether or not you want the alleged offender to be notified about an anonymous report of their violation. The purpose of this would be to inform and educate someone who may not realize they committed a violation but should be made aware so they will not repeat it.

All persons who report a bias incident can choose to remain anonymous.

We do not automatically notify an alleged offender when an anonymous report is submitted about their violation. In the Bias Incident Reporting Form, however, you have the option to select whether or not you want the alleged offender to be notified about an anonymous reporting of their violation. The purpose of this would be to inform and educate someone who may not realize they committed a violation but should be made aware so they will not repeat it.

Members of the University of Lynchburg community who choose to include their contact information as part of the reporting process will be kept updated as the Bias Education Response Team works toward a resolution.

A summary of all bias incidents and their resolutions will be included in an annual report. An example of a summary report is “a professor showed racist imagery and used racial slurs.”

All parties involved in the incidents will be kept anonymous.

After reporting a bias incident, additional support can be provided through Human Resources, Spiritual Life, HornetCare, or University Experience and Student Success.