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What We Do

Our Work

The Office of Equal Opportunity (OEO) responds to discrimination and harassment complaints, allegations of sexual misconduct, and requests for accommodations from students, faculty, staff, community members, visitors and patients in order to affirm Tufts’ commitment to equal opportunity, Title VI, Title VII, Title IX, and Accommodations protocols and ensure equal opportunities for all members of our community.

We do this by:

  • Developing and offering education and training initiatives for faculty, staff and students, including confidential support and resources for affected individuals as well as prevention and awareness training for all members of the Tufts community;
  • Resolving allegations of discrimination, harassment and sexual misconduct for all members of the Tufts community as well as guidance on potential conflict of interests that may arise;
  • Providing oversight and guidance to faculty and staff in handling workplace accommodations as outlined in the university’s ADA policy.

We also partner with other key resources at Tufts University that have a mutual commitment of ensuring compliance with all federal, state and local laws and that are uniformly guided by Tufts’ vision and mission.

Laws that Guide Our Work

Our work is guided by four key pieces of federal legislation:

Title IX is a federal civil rights law in the United States introduced as part of the Education Amendments of 1972. The Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights (OCR) is the regulatory body in the federal government whose guiding principles we follow in our academic environments.

Title VII is part of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which protects against discrimination in the workplace. This employment statute has two regulatory bodies we follow in our employment principles--one federal, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and one in the Commonwealth, the Massachusetts Commission Against Discrimination (MCAD). Learn More

The Violence Against Women Reauthorization (VAWA) act of 2013 was federal legislation adopted to address domestic and sexual violence, in particular, dating/relationship/intimate partner violence, sexual assault and stalking. The Department of Justice oversees the Office on Violence Against Women.

CLERY is included in the Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act signed in 1990. View the Tufts-specific Annual CLERY report. Find more information about the federal requirements.