Responding to Bigotry and Intergroup Strife on Campus:
Guide for College and University Administrators
Introduction
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Planning to Overcome Intergroup Conflict and Bigotry on Campus. |
College and university administrators are in the front lines of the struggle
to combat hate on campus. Unfortunately, hate crimes and acts continue to plague
college campuses today, making it necessary for university administrators to
help alleviate the strains placed on college communities resulting from acts of
intolerance.
In recent decades, campuses have become a new proving ground for the tactics
of diverse hate groups, forcing some colleges and universities onto the front
line in the fight against extremism, racism, homophobia and anti-Semitism. In
its 2001 Report to Congress, the U.S. Department of Education documented an
increase in reported hate crimes on American campuses from a total of 1,312 in
1997 to 2,067.
Responding to bigotry and intergroup strife is a difficult task requiring a
delicate balance between sternness and sensitivity. All constituencies on campus
rely upon college and university leaders to provide practical and moral
leadership in times of conflict and to guide their institutions successfully
through periods of stressful change.
College and university administrators need to engage in contingency planning
to develop appropriate and effective interventions in order to overcome
intergroup conflict and bigotry on campus. Elements of such plans include:
- an understanding of the causes, forms and consequences of intergroup
conflict and bigotry on campus;
- the development of effective and appropriate immediate crisis
interventions;
- establishing medium-term policy and leadership initiatives, and
- creating long-term preventive policy, structural and leadership
initiatives.
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The Importance of Responding to Hate
Speech and Hate Crimes on Campus |
As students expand their emotive and cognitive horizons at college and seek a
niche in the world, some are especially vulnerable to hatemongers who either
stir their developing political passions or couch bigotry in academic terms
designed to appeal to their intellectual curiosity.
Racists and demagogues have ably exploited academe's commitment to free
speech, cloaking their propaganda in the guise of academic freedom. They have
two basic objectives: introducing today's students and tomorrow's leaders to the
ideas they preach and generating mainstream media coverage through the
controversy that inevitably erupts over particularly incendiary events.
Students, faculty and administrators have the right and responsibility to
condemn and counter hatred. Their failure to do so not only contributes to the
spread of hate-filled rhetoric, but causes victimized students to feel
defensive, angry and isolated.
College and university administrators must exhibit zero tolerance toward
hatemongers and their bigotry.
While a growing number of university presidents and senior administrators
have responded strongly to bigotry on their campuses, many others, regrettably,
have not used their platforms to counter the activity of hatemongers.
University administrators must exercise their free-speech rights by publicly
criticizing both the message and the messenger. Most academics want to uphold
and elevate the level of debate on their campuses, not protect the racist who
would turn the schools into battlefields of name-calling. Leaders must not
abdicate their obligation to lead.
University presidents in particular must unequivocally and immediately
condemn expressions of bigotry on their campuses and send a clear message to
students about the line that separates academic freedom from bigotry.
To begin in the battle of ridding hate from campus, it is important to
note the difference between hate speech and hate crime, yet to also acknowledge
the potential harm that both can create. Although both can prove to create
enormous tension and profound damage, the former is not illegal. However, that
does not mean that administrators have to tolerate and accept such speech.
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Responding to Hate Speech on Campus |
Administrators should seek to develop a fair balance between protecting free
speech and shielding those to whom negative words are directed. Administrators
are often placed in a precarious situation when bigoted speakers visit their
campus. While there are limits to what an administration can or should do to
prevent such speech, a timely and strong reaction is essential.
Although extremist and racist speakers have a legal right to speak on campus,
colleges and universities are under no obligation to provide them with a
platform. Indeed, the real question often is the appropriateness of opening
campus facilities for such uses. Students and faculty have a right to protect
the safe and peaceful environment of the campus.
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Responding to Hate Crimes on Campus |
Hate crimes, including vandalism, harassment and violence, are criminal acts
in which a victim is targeted because of his or her actual or perceived race,
gender, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity or disability. It is
important to realize that hate-crime victims are not randomly chosen as they are
in the case of many other crimes. They have been targeted specifically due
to their affiliation with a particular group.
Consequently, policies must be created to enforce appropriate sanctions on
those who commit hate crimes, and the university president should always release
a statement immediately after the crime is committed condemning such acts. This
will send a message to the community as a whole that such behavior is not only
illegal, but also unacceptable and intolerable. There must be zero tolerance for
such bias-motivated crimes and for those who would commit them.
Moreover, reporting hate crimes on campus is a crucial part of dealing
with bigotry and intergroup strife. There is a tendency to report hate
crimes (if at all) as ordinary crimes because colleges and universities are
concerned about their public image. However, this is most damaging to both the
victims and the institution.
Acts of hate do not just cease to exist; administrators must take an active
role in handling these situations in an appropriate manner.
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Effective Intervention: The Key to Ridding the Campus of Hate |
Effective intervention is key to dealing with hate in college communities.
Although some institutions of higher learning include speech codes in their
policies to provide severe consequences for hate speech on campus, many of these
codes have been repealed or overturned due to court rulings that found some
unconstitutional. While a few universities have replaced speech codes with codes
of conduct, campus-based legislation can only have limited success in the battle
against hate on campus.
The key to ridding campuses from hate is positive and continuing anti-bias
education.
Next:
Effective Intervention to Deal with Hate on Campus
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