BERT Launches New Process to Report Bias Incidents

Reed College remains committed to fostering a diverse, inclusive, and equitable community, and confronting systemic and individual biases is an important step in fostering such a community.

As one of the commitments Reed made in the spring of 2022, the college formed the Bias Education & Response Team (BERT) to support community members who have experienced or witnessed bias. BERT is a dedicated team of Reed College community members that responds to reports of bias incidents. The college utilizes a BERT model because it believes that fostering a caring and inclusive community is not just about responding to bias incidents when they occur, but also about proactively preventing them through education.

Last year, BERT met regularly to refine the bias incident reporting process. As the school year

starts, BERT is sharing the bias reporting process and encourages anyone who experiences or witnesses bias to report it at reed.edu/report-bias.

Reed defines bias as any act or behavior, whether intentional or unintentional, that targets

individuals or groups based on their actual or perceived identities, such as race, ethnicity,

shared ancestry, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or other protected

characteristics. Bias incidents can take the form of microaggressions, slurs or epithets,

vandalism or property damage, or threats or intimidation.

After a person has submitted a bias incident report, that report will go through a process that

ensures a timely response to the incident. You can read more about the response process on

the BERT website. The goal of the BERT team is to ensure that the person who reported the

incident is supported. The outcomes of a bias incident report will vary based on the incident and the circumstances surrounding it.

In most situations, the reporter will be referred to appropriate campus or community resources

to support them as they navigate the impacts of the bias incident. In some cases, a one-on-one mediated conversation between the individuals is the best resolution, or the outcome may be an intervention aimed at educating the offending party about the impact their actions had on someone. In other cases, the incident may be identified as a policy violation and will be referred to the appropriate adjudicative process.

As BERT rolls out this process, we encourage you to report bias if you experience or witness it so we can continue to work toward creating a campus where everyone can find a sense of belonging as they learn, live, and work in our Reed community.