California § 66252 - All students have the right to participate fully in the educational process, free

§ 66252. All students have the right to participate fully in the educational process, free

(a) All students have the right to participate fully in the educational process, free from discrimination and harassment. Existing law, pursuant to Section 66270, provides that no person shall be subjected to discrimination on the basis of disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any characteristic listed or defined in Section 11135 of the Government Code, or any other characteristic that is contained in the prohibition of hate crimes set forth in subdivision (a) of Section 422.6 of the Penal Code, including immigration status, in any program or activity conducted by any postsecondary educational institution that receives, or benefits from, state financial assistance or enrolls students who receive state student financial aid. (b) California’s postsecondary educational institutions have an affirmative obligation to combat discrimination on the basis of disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality or national identity, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any characteristic listed or defined in Section 11135 of the Government Code, or any other characteristic that is contained in the prohibition of hate crimes set forth in subdivision (a) of Section 422.6 of the Penal Code, including immigration status, and a responsibility to provide equal educational opportunity. (c) Harassment directed at an individual on the basis of actual or perceived characteristics or status may create a hostile environment and jeopardizes equal educational opportunity as guaranteed by the California Constitution and the United States Constitution. (d) There is an urgent need to prevent and respond to acts of discrimination on the basis of disability, gender, gender identity, gender expression, nationality or national identity, race or ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, or any characteristic listed or defined in Section 11135 of the Government Code, or any other characteristic that is contained in the prohibition of hate crimes set forth in subdivision (a) of Section 422.6 of the Penal Code, including immigration status, that are occurring at an increasing rate in California’s postsecondary educational institutions. (e) There is an urgent need to teach and inform students about their rights, as guaranteed by the federal and state constitutions, in order to increase students’ awareness and understanding of their rights and the rights of others, with the intention of promoting tolerance and sensitivity in postsecondary educational institutions and in society as a means of responding to potential harassment and violence caused by discrimination. (f) It is the intent of the Legislature that each postsecondary educational institution undertake educational activities to counter discriminatory incidents on campus and, within constitutional bounds, to minimize and eliminate a hostile environment on campus that impairs the access of students to equal educational opportunity. (g) It is the intent of the Legislature that each postsecondary educational institution undertake supportive measures to help students who have encountered harassing or discriminatory incidents, regardless of the location of the harassing or discriminatory incident, to ensure students’ access to equal educational opportunities. (h) It is the intent of the Legislature that each postsecondary educational institution address all forms of bias as part of their affirmative obligation to address discrimination on campus. (i) It is the intent of the Legislature that this chapter shall be interpreted as consistent with Article 9.5 (commencing with Section 11135) of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code, Title VI of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. Sec. 2000d, et seq.), Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1681, et seq.), Section 504 of the federal Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (29 U.S.C. Sec. 794), the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1400 et seq.), the federal Equal Educational Opportunities Act (20 U.S.C. Sec. 1701, et seq.), the Unruh Civil Rights Act (Section 51 of the Civil Code), and the California Fair Employment and Housing Act (Part 2.8 (commencing with Section 12900) of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code), except where this chapter may grant more protections or impose additional obligations, and that the remedies provided in this chapter shall not be the exclusive remedies, but may be combined with remedies that may be provided by the above statutes.