On the CU Boulder campus, the Discrimination and Harassment policy applies to the following categories:

  • Race
    Race is a societal identifier that attempts to distinguish people based on physical characteristics such as skin color, facial features, or hair (including hair texture, hair type, or hairstyle) that are commonly or historically associated with race. People may self-identify within certain ethnic or racial categories, including multiracial. All categories are protected under university policy.
  • Color
    Refers to the pigmentation of one’s skin. An individual can make an allegation of color discrimination or color harassment against someone of the same race or color.
  • National Origin
    Refers to a person’s (or a person's ancestors') place of origin or to the physical, cultural, or linguistic characteristics of an ethnic group. This also applies to persons with limited English proficiency.
  • Sex and Gender
    Sex refers to a medical interpretation of anatomy and biology that determines whether someone is assigned male, female, and/or intersex at birth. Gender refers to the social constructs surrounding gender roles.
  • Gender Identity
    Refers to an innate sense of one’s own gender, or an internal sense of who one is, regardless of anatomy.
  • Gender Expression
    Refers to how a person represents or expresses one’s gender to others through external appearance, characteristics, or behaviors typically associated with a specific gender.
  • Sexual Orientation
    Refers to the physical or emotional attraction and no attraction toward a certain sex or gender, including individuals who identify as gay, lesbian, bisexual, heterosexual, straight, pansexual, fluid, and asexual for instance. Also, individuals are protected from discrimination or harassment based on a perception of an individual’s sexual orientation, even if that perception is mistaken.
  • Disability
    Refers to a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities of an individual. The policy also protects individuals who are regarded as having a disability or who have a record of a disability.
  • Pregnancy
    Individuals who are pregnant, just gave birth to a child, or suffer a medical condition as a result of pregnancy or childbirth are all protected.
  • Veteran Status
    Refers to anyone who serves or who has served in any branch of the United States armed forces, including students in the Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC). Volunteers for military duty must be treated the same as those who are ordered to active duty.
  • Age
    Refers to discriminating against individuals because of their age. Students are protected from age discrimination in academic situations like admissions decisions and residence hall assignments, regardless of their age. An employee must be 40 years or older to fall within the protected category.
  • Religion/Creed
    Refers to religious, moral, or ethical beliefs that are sincerely held and includes all aspects of religious observance and practice.
  • Political Affiliation
    Refers to a person’s membership or association with others in a commonality of political purpose and support.
  • Political Philosophy
    Refers to a person’s belief or endorsement of any system of thought pertaining to public policy or the administration of governmental functions.
  • Marital Status
    Refers to a relationship or a spousal status of an individual, including, but not limited to, being single, cohabitating, engaged, widowed, married, in a civil union, or legally separated, or a relationship or a spousal status of an individual who has had or is in the process of having a marriage or civil union dissolved or declared invalid.