Requesting Confidentiality During an Investigation

Requesting Confidentiality or Anonymity After Reporting an Incident: How the University Will Consider the Request and Respond

If the complainant requests that the University not pursue an investigation or asks that their name be held in confidence, the University Title IX Coordinator will weigh each request very carefully. Among the factors the University will consider in assessing a complainant’s request are:

• whether the sexual misconduct was perpetrated with a weapon;
• whether the respondent has been identified as a respondent in another alleged incident of sexual misconduct;
• the age of the complainant;
• whether the University possesses other means to obtain relevant evidence (for example, if the University has surveillance camera footage which shows the incident, the University may be able to proceed without the involvement of the complainant); and
• whether the University has credible evidence that the respondent has committed one or more prior violations of the sexual misconduct policy.

The University Title IX Coordinator will advise the complainant if the University intends to proceed with the investigation against the complainant’s wishes. If the complainant requests that the University inform the respondent that the complainant asked the University not to investigate or seek discipline, the University will do so and inform the respondent that the University made the decision to go forward with the investigation.