Sexual harassment is an issue that grabbed all of America when we saw Anita Hill accuse then Supreme Court nominee Clarence Thomas of harassing her while she worked in his office. It has been years since that incident brought question of what constitutes sexual harassment to the forefront of legal and business attention. During those years thousands of cases have weaved their way through our court system helping to clear the issue and make it something more easily understood. The business world now has more specific guidelines on how to recognize harassment and how to handle its various forms. Although there are still plenty of gray areas regarding the issue people are now more informed on how to avoid potential problems and how to deal with them if they do arise. This is all well and good but is the workplace the only environment where sexual harassment rears its ugly face? The answer to that question is rather simple. No. One major area where people are still trying work through the issue of harassment is the institute of higher education. Some might say that harassment in our colleges and universities may be handled similarly to they way we handle the problem in the business world and that viewpoint has allies in very high places such as the Supreme Court. .

             In Davis v. Monroe County Board of Education the Supreme Court was faced with deciding whether a school could be held liable for a 10 year old boy making sexual statements and advances to one of his female classmates. The result of this case sent shockwaves through not only elementary schools but also any educational institution receiving federal funding. Justice Sandra Day O"Connor delivered the majority opinion for the court which "held that the school would be liable for student-on-student sexual harassment if it acted with deliberate indifference to known acts of harassment in its programs or activities provided that the harassment is so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it effectively bars the victim"s access to an educational opportunity or benefit "(Coulter, 1999)".