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Skidmore College is committed to fostering a diverse and inclusive community in which members develop their abilities to live in a complex and interconnected world. Consistent with our educational mission, we recognize ourselves as a community that respects indi-vidual identities based on varying sociocultural characteristics such as race, ethnicity, gen-der identity and expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ﬁrst language, religious and spiritual tradition, age, ability, socioeconomic status, and learning style. We strive to create a socially just world that honors the dignity and worth of each individual, and we seek to build a community centered on mutual respect and openness to ideas—one in which indi-viduals value cultural and intellectual diversity and share the responsibility for creating a welcoming, safe, and inclusive environment. We recognize that our community is most inclusive when all members participate to their full capacity in the spirited, and sometimes challenging, conversations that are at the center of the College’s educational mission.

(1) Applicable laws, ordinances, and regulations on bias-related crime, including the provi-sions and coverage of the Hate Crimes Act of 2000 codiﬁed in article 485 of the New York State penal law. The laws and penalties for the commission of bias-related crimes can be lo-cated at the Laws of New York Web site .

A person commits a hate crime when he or she commits a speciﬁed offense and either: (a) intentionally selects the person against whom the offense is committed or intended to be committed in whole or in substantial part because of a belief or perception regarding the race, color, national origin, ancestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation of a person, regardless of whether the belief or perception is correct, or

(b) intentionally commits the act or acts constituting the offense in whole or in substan-tial part because of a belief or perception regarding the race, color, national origin, an-cestry, gender, religion, religious practice, age, disability or sexual orientation of a person, regardless of whether the belief or perception is correct.

When a person is convicted of a hate crime, the crime shall be deemed to be a higher cate-gory than the speciﬁed offense the defendant committed. Speciﬁc penalties and terms of imprisonment can be located at the Laws of New York Web site .

Students should notify the Skidmore Department of Campus Safety (x5567) immediately of all incidents of bias-related crime so that protection—including police protection—can be provided if needed. When the accused is a Skidmore College student, the victim should ﬁle a report with Skidmore Campus Safety or with any of the on-campus designated personnel (see the Student Handbook 2004–05 , p. 37, for the list of designated personnel). These individ-