Speaking Their Truths: An Analysis of Middlebury's First Sexual Harassment Policy and Campus Community Attitudes Surrounding Sexual Harassment between 1983 and 1989

In the late 1970s, in tandem with growing national legal awareness about the concept of sexual harassment, a number of institutions of higher education were drafting policies to regulate the issue. Middlebury drafted its first... [ view full abstract ]

In the late 1970s, in tandem with growing national legal awareness about the concept of sexual harassment, a number of institutions of higher education were drafting policies to regulate the issue. Middlebury drafted its first policy in 1984, in many ways mirroring the language, definitions, and processes used by other schools and federal bodies. However, the policy reflected only one of the various lenses through which our campus community understood sexual harassment. In my thesis, I asked: Why was our first sexual harassment policy created in 1984? What were the views and opinions of the larger Middlebury Community on sexual harassment? Tracing anti-sexual harassment activism and its consequent legal impacts in the 1970s and 1980s, analyzing the language of Middlebury’s policy in comparison with other institutions, and exploring the attitudes expressed by various stakeholders present on-campus at the time, I argued that Middlebury’s first policy was the product of broader legal changes, although campus attitudes reflected a plethora of views on the issue. In a campus environment where such topics are still being debated, I hope to provide context and identify prominent trends in the regulation, conceptualization, and activism against sexual harassment at institutions of higher education like Middlebury.