Hate Crime Reporting

Mount Saint Mary College is committed to a diverse, safe, and inclusive learning environment. In compliance with NY Education Law Article 129-a, 2023 amendment, which aims to strengthen hate crime reporting and investigation requirements for college campuses, Mount Saint Mary College has established this website specifically to report hate crimes. 

Hate Crimes

Under New York Penal Law § 485.05, Hate Crimes is a criminal offense that prosecutors can bring in conjunction with another underlying offense when a defendant commits a crime against a victim based at least in part on one or more of the victim's immutable characteristics, such as race, color, religion, age, disability, national origin, ancestry, gender, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation.

Under the Clery Act, only the following eight categories of bias are reported:

1. Race: A preformed negative attitude toward a group of persons who possess common physical characteristics, e.g., color of skin, eyes, and/or hair; facial features, etc., genetically transmitted by descent and heredity which distinguish them as distinct division of humankind, e.g., Asians, Blacks or African Americans, Whites.
2. Religion: A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons who share the same religious beliefs regarding the origin and purpose of the universe and the existence of nonexistence of a supreme being, e.g., Catholics, Jews, Protestants, and atheists.
3. Sexual Orientation: A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a person or group of persons based on their actual or perceived gender, i.e., male or female.
4. Gender:  A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a person or group of persons based on their actual or perceived gender, i.e., male or female.
5. Gender Identity: A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a person or group of persons based on their actual or perceived gender identity, e.g., bias against transgender or gender non-conforming individuals. 
6. Ethnicity: A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons whose members identify with each other, through a common heritage, often consisting of a common language, common culture (often including shared of shared religion), and/or ideology that stress common ancestry.
7. National Origin: A preformed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of people based on their actual or perceived country of birth.
8. Disability: A performed negative opinion or attitude toward a group of persons based on their physical or mental impairments, whether such disability is temporary or permanent, congenital or acquired by heredity, accident, injury, advanced age, or illness.

In addition to the Criminal Offenses defined above, the following offenses are included in Clery Act statistics if they are Hate Crimes.

1. Larceny-Theft is the unlawful taking, carrying, leading, or riding away of property from the possession or constructive possession of another.
2. Simple Assault is an unlawful physical attack by one person upon another where neither the offender displays a weapon, nor the victim suffers obvious severe or aggravated bodily injury involving apparent broken bones, loss of teeth, possible internal injury, severe laceration, or loss of consciousness.
3. Intimidation is to unlawfully place another person in reasonable fear of bodily harm through the use of threatening words and/or other conduct, but without displaying a weapon or subjecting the victim to actual physical attack.
4. Destruction/Damage/Vandalism of Property is to willfully or maliciously destroy, damage, deface, or otherwise injure real or personal property without the consent of the owner or the person having custody or control of it.

Hate Crimes Statistics Bias Incident/Hate Crime Reporting Form