When a student asks something you don't know, say it's a good question and find the answer. Contact Title IX or Residence Life with the facts, no names. Avoid calling situations gray areas, which can be a way to dodge accountability.
The moment that you're thinking, oh, I don't know on this, right? That's what you're describing. An example where you get— and you're like, I'm not clear. I'm not clear. Here's what you can do. Turn to the student and say, that's a really good question. I want to look into this to get you the right answer. And you go to Title IX. Or you go to Residence Life and say, this is what's been presented to me. You're not naming names or anything. What are their options? Is that a Title IX? Is that a— And let them help provide clarity to you so you can actually come back with a solid answer. Because here's the reality. There's very little gray. People love to use the word gray around this topic. And there's a reason they want to use gray around this topic. Anybody know? It's safe to say it's gray. Because if everything's gray, then I never do anything wrong. That's actually why people like the gray term. It sounds like, well, none of us do anything wrong. It was just questionable.
