Agenda
The agenda is to address a cultural mind shift by partnering with faculty, staff members, student, and the local community.
This mind shift is relating to recent highly charged social and political activism on the campus of the University of Washington (UW) as a result of hate crimes and other activities relating to racism.
The mind shift will be achieved through collaborative engagement and policy development, which will be achieved through use of social media campaigns and diversity training programs.
Current Issues in Campus
One of a key challenge which is faced by students, staff, and faculties in UW is hate crimes and other issues that promote racism and biases.
As a director, it is important to understand the severity of these issues and address the change in the campus community to create a peaceful environment.
A new study by UW found that 40 percent of blacks face challenges in school and work as a result of hate crimes (EPI News, 2019).
The attack on a Muslim student in campus of UW is another example of current issues in the campus (Hyde, 2016).
Addressing change in campus community
The issue of hate crime is necessary to be addressed to make sure that it did not negatively affect students, staff, faculty and other members in the local community.
This can be achieved with a collaborative approach within the members of the community to make sure that they work together to fight these challenges (Linder, Myers, Riggle & Lacy, 2016).
Social and political activism and protests started by students of UW are good examples which show how they stand up against these issues.
Awareness regarding these issues should be spread to make sure that their numbers can be reduced and victims receive a platform to share their challenges.
Actions to address the issues
Collaborative engagement is required between community members to address these issues, which can be achieved if the University embraces student activism.
There are positive outcomes for students through embracing activism along with the community, as found in the study conducted on the University of Iowa and the University of Michigan.
Another good example of collaborative engagement is Ferguson protests that bring people together to take actions for the protection of black lives and universities stated providing diversity training to student (CBS News, 2019).
Actions to address the issues
The University should focus on policy development in order to positively respond to social and political activism.
Engagement between students, faculty, and staff is necessary to ensure that they positively engage in social and political activism.
Online collaboration should be given through social media sites and forums to ensure that people have their voices heard (Sandoval-Almazan & Gil-Garcia, 2014).
Resources available for addressing the issues
Social media sites such as Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube are great tools to spread awareness and bring spotlight on victims of hate crimes (Sandoval-Almazan & Gil-Garcia, 2014).
Diversity training is also crucial to prohibit hate crimes and similar practices from the campus.
The University should create a separate fund to support social and political activism practices by students and other members.
Opinion of other writers
Laurie Essig wrote a great piece for “the Chronicle” on cultural minded and political activism by arguing that hate crimes won’t end until “toxic ‘bro’ culture” is reformed (Essig , 2018).
In the article, she highlighted that campus students are more likely to engage in “bro” culture, and they write words such as “die dykes” and “feminazi” on women-center posters (Essig , 2018).
Campuses did not take strict actions against these actions, and they did not embrace social and political activism, which fuel these activities and increase the number of hate crimes.
Opinion of other writers
Dan Bauman analyzed the impact of cultural mindedness and political activism by comparing the data of hate crimes in campuses by posting an article in “the Chronicle”.
He argued that the issue of hate crimes had increased drastically, especially among campuses, which are mainly against blacks (Bauman, 2018).
These crimes promote biases and affect the personal, professional, physical and mental health of students.
Bauman provided that four hate crimes incidents were reported in Seattle campus of UW in 2017 and other universities have reported more incidents (Bauman, 2018).
Universities that did not support social and political activism have higher rate of hate crime cases.
Campus Climate Survey
The campus climate survey reported a number of hate crime incidents in UW.
A hate crime was reported after 2016 Presidential elections against a Muslim student when she suffered a concussion after someone threw a bottle (Dreid & Najmabadi, 2016).
In another incident, Muslim students were threatened because they were wearing a hijab in the campus (Dreid & Najmabadi, 2016).
These surveys highlighted key challenges that promote hate crime in the campus.
Campus Climate Survey
There is lack of strict policy development and no strict actions are taken against individuals that engage in similar practices.
Policy development can ensure that collaboration is achieved and the campus supports social and political activism among students.
There is no collaboration between students, faculty and staff members which highlight the importance of a diversity training program (Dreid & Najmabadi, 2016).
Communication should be improved through use of social media sites and online forums where people should share their ideas and views against hate crimes and how to address them.
Outreach programs and other engagement and collaboration to build community
A cultural mind shift is necessary in order to make sure that the issue of hate crimes and racism are addressed in the campus of UW.
This can be achieved through collaboration between students, faculty, and staff members through diversity programs (Laninga, Austin & McClure, 2019).
UW should launch an outreach program as well to promote diversity in the workplace and eliminate racist behavior.
International Peer to Peer mentor program can increase the number of diverse
Outreach programs and other engagement and collaboration to build community
Protests conducted by students should be supported by the University since it raises awareness regarding major social and political issues.
However, guidelines should be introduced through policies to make sure that protests did not harm individuals, and they assist in supporting the overall goals of the university.
Diversity training should become mandatory, and stricter policies should be introduced for punishing those that engage or promote hate crimes or other racist practices.
Training should be given across generations in which older as well as Generation Z students should be included (Laninga, Austin & McClure, 2019).
Outreach programs and other engagement and collaboration to build community
Effective communication is also crucial for achieving the agendas of social and political activism.
This can be achieved by the university by holding meetings and supporting online discussion through social media sites.
Victims should be given a platform to share their stories with the world which will raise awareness regarding these issues, and it will reduce the number of hate crimes in campuses (Laninga, Austin & McClure, 2019).
Partnership with student affairs, global study programs and equity and inclusion programs are significant for ensuring a cultural mind shift.
Conclusion
As a culture safety partner, it is recommended that universities should embrace social and political activism.
The issue of hate crime can be resolve through a cultural mind shift of students, faculty and staff members.
Diversity training, social media awareness and policy development is crucial to achieve a cultural mind shift that embrace social and political activism.
References
Bauman, D. (2018). Hate Crimes on Campuses Are Rising, New FBI Data Show. Retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/article/Hate-Crimes-on-Campuses-Are/245093
Beekman, D. (2019). Reported hate crimes and incidents up nearly 400% in Seattle since 2012. Retrieved from https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/reported-hate-crimes-and-incidents-up-nearly-400-in-seattle-since-2012/
CBS News. (2019). We asked 155 police departments about their racial bias training. Here’s what they told us. Retrieved from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/racial-bias-training-de-escalation-training-policing-in-america/
Dreid, N. & Najmabadi, S. (2016). Here’s a Rundown of the Latest Campus-Climate Incidents Since Trump’s Election. Retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/blogs/ticker/heres-a-rundown-of-the-latest-campus-climate-incidents-since-trumps-election/115553
EPI News. (2019). Blacks, Minorities Disproportionately Impacted By Hate Crimes. Retrieved from https://epi.washington.edu/news/blacks-minorities-disproportionately-impacted-hate-crimes
Essig, L. (2018). Hate Crimes Won’t End Until Toxic ‘Bro’ Culture Is Reformed. Retrieved from https://www.chronicle.com/article/Hate-Crimes-Won-t-End-Until/243046
Hyde, D. (2016). Hate crime? Muslim student attacked at University of Washington. Retrieved from https://www.kuow.org/stories/hate-crime-muslim-student-attacked-university-washington
Laninga, T., Austin, G., & McClure, W. (2019). University-community partnerships in small-town Idaho: Addressing diverse community needs through interdisciplinary outreach and engagement. Journal of Community Engagement and Scholarship, 4(2), 2.
Linder, C., Myers, J. S., Riggle, C., & Lacy, M. (2016). From margins to mainstream: Social media as a tool for campus sexual violence activism. Journal of Diversity in Higher Education, 9(3), 231.
Sandoval-Almazan, R., & Gil-Garcia, J. R. (2014). Towards cyberactivism 2.0? Understanding the use of social media and other information technologies for political activism and social movements. Government Information Quarterly, 31(3), 365-378.
