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Dear Faculty Relations: One of my colleagues studies and writes on a topic that’s the subject of political controversy. I’m worried that they might be trolled, doxxed, bullied, or harassed in other ways by individuals outside the CU community. What should my colleague do if this happens, and how does our campus support them and their research, creative work, and teaching? —Concerned about a ColleagueÌý

Dear Concerned: Thank you for this question. It’s one that seems to become more urgent every day—heartbreakingly so.

The most comprehensive guide is our campus scholarship and safety page. Here are some key steps from that resource:

• Put physical safety first. I can’t stress this enough: if your colleague feels that their physical safety is at risk or if they are in immediate need of help, they should contact 911, the CU Police Department, and/or local law enforcement. Once your colleague’s physical safety is no longer at immediate risk, they can connect with others, such as their supervisor, the Office of Victim Assistance, or support services through the Office of Institutional Equity and Compliance (OIEC).
• Consider your well-being. Campus offers mental health support through the Faculty & Staff Assistance Program and other offices.
• Collect and preserve evidence. Preserve emails by downloading them as PDFs and preserve social media and other online comments by taking screenshots. Keep these in a safe location such as a secure cloud storage service or external hard drive.
• Assess the harassment. Your colleague should consider speaking with OIEC if they believe that they’re being targeted on the basis of protected class. They can also work with the to remove personal information from CU websites or pay an outside service to remove all personal information from the internet.
• Decide whether to respond directly. It’s generally recommended that your colleague not engage with the source of harassment. Any language that contains actual or implied threats of harm should be reported immediately to CU Boulder’s Department of Threat Assessment (Behavioral Intervention Team); in cases of imminent danger, call 911.

Finally, reassure your colleague that they are not alone. Our campus community is precisely that—a community, a group of individuals and offices committed to academic freedom, to our mission as a public university, and to supporting faculty, staff, and students in their pursuit of knowledge and truth.

Written by Elias Sacks, Associate Professor of Religious Studies and Jewish Studies, Faculty Director for Public Scholarship, Office of Faculty Affairs

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