Sexual Assault

Sexual assault is defined in the USCB Student Handbook as one or more of the following:

Offensive Touching Sexual Assault - the touching of an unwilling or non-consensual person’s intimate parts (such as genitalia, groin, breast, buttocks, mouth, and/or clothes, covering them); touching an unwilling person with one’s own intimate parts: or forcing an unwilling person to touch another's intimate parts.
Non-consensual Sexual Assault – unwilling or non-consensual penetration of any bodily opening with any object or body part. This includes, but is not limited to, penetration of a bodily opening without consent through the use of coercion.
Forced Sexual Assault - unwilling or non-consensual penetration of any bodily opening with any object or body part that is committed either by force, threat, intimidation, or through exploitation of another’s mental or physical condition of which the assailant was aware or should have been aware.

Please visit our Policies and Procedures and Definition of Consent pages for information on sexual assault.

Policies & Procedures

The following is a summary of policies and procedures stated in the Student Handbook related to sexual assault. Please see the Student Handbook for the complete explanation.

Definition: Please see our Definition of Sexual Assault section of the website.
Healthy sexual activities involve mutually expressed consent. Please see our Definition of Consent section of the website.
The use of alcohol and other drugs, in conjunction with an incident of sexual assault, does not mitigate accountability for the commission of this crime or diminish the seriousness of the crime. The use of substance with the possibility of harm to another individual will be considered by the Judicial Hearing Officer or pre-hearing Adjudication Officer when determining responsibility and appropriate sanctions.
This policy is subject to change to comply with changes in relevant laws or University operating procedures.
Rights of Victim's of Sexual Assault: Please see the Victim's Rights section of our website.
Providing or making available to a victim, and/or using any substance (e.g. alcohol, GHB, Rohypnol, etc.) will be considered by the Administrative Hearing Officer when determining responsibility and appropriate sanction.
Use of these substances in violating this policy may constitute "Forced Sexual Assault" and result in explusion from the University. In addition, the use of these substances by an alleged assailant may constitute violation of other University policies, and the student may be charged with these violations as well (e.g. Drugs, Harm to Persons, Disorderly Conduct, Disruptive Activity, Alcohol, etc...)
The use of alcohol and other drugs by either party, in conjunction with an incident of sexual assault, does not mitigate accountability for the commission of this offense or diminish the seriousness of the offense.
In the event that the alleged sexual assault is committed by more than one person, there will be a hearing conducted for all accused students. However, charges against students may vary.
As noted above, in publishing this policy the University is not intending to substitute or supersede related civil and criminal law. It is the policy of the institution to strongly encourage victims to report all incidents and violations to the law enforcement officials or agencies with appropriate jurisdiction and avail themselves of all the services and rights to which they are entitled by law.
It should be clearly understood that there is a fundamental difference between the nature and purpose of student conduct procedures and criminal law. Regardless of the charge issued or procedures employed, sanctions issued by the University can be expected to be consistent with the educational mission of the institution.
According to university policy, the University may bring disciplinary action against the student for the same incident if the alleged conduct is prohibited by the institution and/or if it is judged to b adverse to the recognized mission of the institution. University conduct procedures are distinct and independent of any and all criminal procedures. Student conduct procedures may precede, occur simultaneously, or follow and consider the results of court action. When necessary, temporary action may be taken in the form of summarily suspending, summarily restricting, or officially requesting no contact between the victim and assailant, as well as possible relocation or removal from the residence halls. Any of these measures may result in a student's restricted participation in University events outside attendance of classes and appointments related to the resolution of discipline matters.

Definition of Consent

In the Student Handbook, consent is currently defined as follows:

Both individuals are physically free and capable to act.
Both individuals are willing and clear about their intent to engage in sexual activities.
Silence may not in and of itself constitute consent.
Past consent of sexual activities does not imply ongoing future consent.

We encourage all members of the USCB community to adopt affirmative consent, otherwise known as "Yes Means Yes." Please view the below video for a detailed explanation of affirmative consent.

Anything that is not considered a clear, distinct "Yes" is not consent to sexual activity.
- You cannot just think you have consent because you don't have a clear, strong signal that you don't.
- Lack of protest or resistance does not mean consent.
Affirmative consent means an affirmative, conscious, and voluntary agreement to engage in sexual activity.
Must be ongoing and can be revoked at any time.
Intoxicated or reckless is not an excuse for failing to get affirmative consent.
It's the responsibility of each person involved to make sure that he or she has consent of the other or others.
Affirmative consent cannot be given by someone who is asleep, unconscious, incapacitated, or under the influence of drugs, alcohol or medication OR if he or she is unable to communicate due to a mental or physical condition.

Remember, only a YES is a YES.