Dealing with Bias: Resources and Resolution for Students Through BERT

What can you do if you’ve been discriminated against in a class or social setting on campus? It can be difficult to figure out who to go to while managing the mental toll of these situations. While Reed has plentiful resources for students and community members to seek resolution and support when dealing with discrimination or harassment, all too often, these support systems remain underutilized due to a lack of awareness and concerns about the extent of institutional ability to deliver on a solution. To shed more light on one such resource, the Quest took the time to reach out to the Bias Education and Response Team (BERT) to provide more information about how they can help students dealing with bias. 

The main concern of BERT lies with bias incident reports. In the first place, what is a bias incident? As defined by the “Bias Incidents” section of the Reed website, a bias incident can be “any act or behavior, whether intentional or unintentional, that targets individuals or groups based on their actual or perceived identities.” Bias incidents can come in the form of microaggressions, slurs, vandalism, or threats on the basis of someone’s identity. 

If you have experienced a bias incident, or know someone who has, you can submit a bias incident report form, available through the “Bias Incidents” webpage. You can also make a report personally to a BERT staff member. Current BERT staff includes the leadership of the Office of Student Life (Karnell McConnell-Black), Human Resources (Heather Quinn-Barron), and the Dean of the Faculty (Kathy Oleson). While it’s always important to report bias incidents regardless of when they actually happened, BERT warned, “Reports that occurred outside of the current academic year will be reviewed but response may be limited.” 

When it comes to the actions BERT can take after they receive a report, there are several steps involved. First, anyone who reports an incident through the online form will receive an automated confirmation email giving a date BERT will review their report. In this review process, they explained, “The report undergoes an initial assessment to determine if the incident meets the community’s definition of a bias incident, and if there is a potential violation of College policy.” If the report is found to qualify as a bias incident, it is then handed off to a relevant staff member to follow up. BERT reported that incidents involving students are covered by the Office of Student Life, while those involving staff go to Human Resources and those involving faculty go to the Dean of the Faculty’s Office. After that, BERT staff are responsible for getting back to the reporter within three business days. Follow up actions can include “a request for more information, supportive outreach to those impacted/involved in the incident, and/or educational conversations and actions to address the concern(s).”

Importantly, bias incident reports can be anonymous but they are not necessarily confidential. BERT stressed how, “Even when a report is submitted anonymously, BERT may respond, and in that process, the reporter’s identity may become known.” Sometimes, people who make reports cannot remain anonymous to the members of the BERT team because they need to know who to contact to follow up on the report. They also emphasized that, “When possible, individual names involved in the incident, response, and/or education process will be protected; however, it is important to note that this is not always possible and that the bias incident response process is not a confidential process.” Information from reporters can be shared with relevant staff and other community members on what BERT called a “need-to-know” basis in order to learn more about the incident and reach a resolution. While BERT does try to act with as much confidentiality as possible in this process to limit “any risk of retaliation due to reporting,” you should be aware of these factors if you are concerned with your safety and privacy with an anonymous bias incident report.

According to BERT, “If a student is unsatisfied with the actions taken regarding a bias incident report, they have the option to pursue a different process. The bias incident reporting process is not an adjudicative process.” They made clear that BERT’s purpose is not to pursue disciplinary measures. When bias incident reports require further action to be taken, BERT works with other accountability organizations, such as the Honor Council and J-Board. They stated, “When concerns rise to the level of potential policy violations, we refer those incidents to the appropriate accountability group for formal adjudication.” 

As alternatives or supplements to BERT, Honor Council and J-Board are two main options open to students and community members. Honor Council is a group made up of students, staff, and faculty, which offers mediation and conflict resolution in line with the Honor Principle. Importantly, Honor Council proceedings are confidential, with the exception of Title IX cases and situations of immediate danger of harm. Honor Council is available to students through the student members’ office hours in SB Info or their email at honorcouncil@reed.edu.

Beyond that, J-Board offers formal adjudication procedures for violations of the Honor Principle. J-Board hears cases of violations of the Honor Principle and other college policies, in which they gather information and deliver action recommendations to respond to the situation at hand, which are then assessed and potentially implemented by the College’s administration. J-Board can be reached through its student chairs, who are currently Nicole Chan (nicolexc-jboard@reed.edu) and Kiana Fields (kfields-jboard@reed.edu), although updated information can be found in SB Info or the “Judicial Board” section of the Reed website. These are two additional resources that students can access to seek resolution to their concerns of bias, either in tandem with BERT or independently.

Bias incident reports are collected and stored by BERT to provide data on bias incidents and study trends. This information is given to the President’s staff on a quarterly basis and publicized to the campus as a whole every year. In these reports, no identifying information about the people involved in reports can be shared. According to BERT, “The annual report for the 2024-25 academic year will be available in the coming months,” although they did not specify a date for its release.

In addition to bias incident reports, BERT works to educate about bias and encourage others to minimize its impact on their lives. They emphasized their message to the community, stating, “We strongly encourage all community members to help create an environment free of bias and harassment by modeling honorable behavior, discouraging inappropriate behavior in others, and speaking up when one is the target of or witness to bias.”