N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. tit. 8 § 19.4

Current through Register Vol. 46, No. 18, May 1, 2024

Section 19.4 - Equality of educational opportunity

(a) No educational institution of post-secondary grade which is chartered or incorporated by the Regents or by special act of the Legislature, or which is a member of the University of the State of New York, or which is licensed by the State Education Department, or whose programs are required to be registered or otherwise approved by the State Education Department shall assign or knowingly permit the assignment of any student to, or exclude or knowingly permit the exclusion of any student from any facility owned or operated by or under the auspices of the institution, on the basis of race, color or national origin.

(b) The provisions of this section shall not be deemed to prohibit:

(1) the affording to any student of the opportunity to select those other students with whom he will share a single dormitory room or other comparable living quarters; or

(2) the creation and operation of combined academic and residential units or programs within the institution, provided that such unit or program has a valid educational purpose, and provided further that admission to such unit or program is not conditioned upon race, color or national origin.

(c) If the commissioner shall determine, upon complaint by a third party or on his own motion, that there is reason to believe that a violation of the provisions of this section has occurred, and that reasonable efforts on his part to induce the elimination of such alleged violation have not or will not be successful, he shall refer the matter to the Board of Regents, which may cause to be issued and served upon the institution a complaint setting forth the alleged violation, together with a notice of hearing before a committee of the Regents, or a hearing officer designated by the Regents, at a place and time fixed therein, not less than 20 days after the service of the complaint and notice of hearing.

(d) An institution upon which such a complaint and notice of hearing is served may, not more than 20 days after such service, submit a written answer to the complaint, may appear at such hearing by counsel, may present evidence and examine and cross-examine witnesses, and may submit briefs or memoranda of law. All testimony taken at such hearing, which shall be public, shall be under oath and shall be reduced to writing and filed with the Board of Regents. One copy of such testimony shall be provided to the institution without charge.

(e) At the conclusion of such hearing, the committee of the Regents or hearing officer before whom the hearing was held shall submit a written report to the Board of Regents, setting forth the findings, conclusions and recommendations of the committee or hearing officer.

(f) The Board of Regents shall consider the complaint and answer thereto, the transcript of the testimony adduced at the hearing, any briefs or memoranda of law submitted and the findings, conclusion and recommendations of the committee or hearing officer and shall, by majority vote of the whole number of Regents, determine whether the institution has violated the provisions of this section as alleged in the complaint and the penalty to be imposed in the event of an affirmative finding. Such penalty may be one or more of the following:

(1) censure of the institution; and

(2) withdrawal or suspension of registration of any program of the institution and revocation or suspension of any license or other approval issued to the institution by the Regents or the State Education Department.

(g) Where any registration, license or other approval has been withdrawn, revoked, or suspended pursuant to the provisions of this section, the commissioner is authorized, upon the presentation of evidence satisfactory to him that the violation found by the Regents no longer exists, to restore such registration, license or other approval.

(h) Where the Board of Regents has found a violation of this section to exist and has imposed a penalty, in accordance with the provisions of subdivision (f) of this section, and unless evidence satisfactory to the commissioner that such violation no longer exists is thereafter presented to him within what he determines to be a reasonable time, the commissioner is authorized to initiate such judicial proceedings as he deems necessary to secure the removal of such violation.

N.Y. Comp. Codes R. & Regs. Tit. 8 § 19.4