Hate-crime panel addresses prejudice and violence

About 50 faculty members and students met to discuss the presence and resurgence of hate crimes, even though University Police statistics show hate crimes on the campus have declined in recent years.

The event, titled "Hate Crimes: Moving from Discrimination to Tolerance," addressed the resurgence of hate crimes nationally and internationally. A panel looked at how these crimes affect the university.

The presentation, which is the third of the Provost's Conversations on Diversity, Democracy and Higher Education this semester, featured Brian Levin, director of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernadino, and a panel of four university faculty members.

Luke Jensen, one of the panelists and the director of the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Equity, said hate crimes exist at this university just like anywhere else.

"We shouldn't think of ourselves as immune from them," he said.

But University Police spokesman Paul Dillon said the number of hate crimes on the campus has steadily declined over the years.

In 2004, there were 24 hate crimes reported at the university. There were 18 each in 2005 and 2006, 22 in 2007 and 10 in 2008. So far this year, there have been eight.

In his presentation, Levin said this state is "on the cutting edge of the fight against hate crimes." He said the state is the first to include homeless people in the groups protected against hate crimes.

But Levin said there are 13 hate groups in this state, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, and 150 hate crimes were reported in the state last year.

Levin also discussed the new federal hate-crimes bill, a measure that was attached to the National Defense Authorization Act.

The legislation, which was approved by the Senate 68 to 29 and is now awaiting President Barack Obama's signature, expanded the definition of hate crimes to include attacks based on sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or disability.

After Levin spoke, panelists discussed their knowledge of hate crimes and their experience with them at the university.

Ronald Zeigler, the director of the Nyumburu Cultural Center, recalled the noose hung outside Nyumburu in 2007. Jensen discussed how different students he knew dealt with being victims of harassment.

Levin said for universities to see fewer hate crimes, new policies and procedures should be created, alternate routes of reporting hate crimes should be developed and victimization surveys should be distributed.

Allison Bennett, coordinator of the Sexual Assault Response and Prevention Program, and Steven Selden, a professor in the education policy studies department, also served on the panel.

Some students at the event said they came for a class, though many said they thought the topic was interesting.

"I'm not really involved in things on the campus, so anything that sounds remotely interesting to get me out of my apartment excites me," said freshman engineering major Ezra Weisel, who came to the discussion for extra credit.

"I think it'll be interesting to get a new perspective on hate and tolerance," sophomore business and kinesiology major Michele Fried said.

estelle@umdbk.com