Progress toward a bias-free campus discussed at semi-annual meeting

By Adrial Lobelo '02

Cornell sophomore Funa Maduka, left, joins a panel including Cornell Law School student Emanuel Tsourounis II Ő01, center, and Ithaca College senior Shelley Facente, participating in a forum sponsored by CornellŐs Office of Workforce Diversity, Equity and Life Quality, April 11, in Anabel Taylor Hall. Nicola Kountoupes/University Photography

Lynette Chappell-Williams, the director of Cornell's Office of Workforce Diversity, Equity and Life Quality, led a discussion April 11 in the One World Room of Anabel Taylor Hall on the university's continuing efforts to address bias activity in the community.

The semi-annual "Not on Our Campus, Not in Our Community--Progress Toward a Bias-Free Campus" meeting, hosted by Chappell-Williams' office, began with her giving a brief history of the development of the university's bias-activity response protocol and some information on trends in bias activities.

After a series of bias-related incidents reported on campus during the 1998-99 academic year, Chappell-Williams said, Cornell's Campus Life Community Development Office initiated a program to respond to, and help prevent, bias crimes. However, Campus Life could only effectively respond to bias crimes occurring within the university's residence halls and community centers, which in the 2001-02 academic year has accounted for a little more than 40 percent of reported bias activity. So in early 2000, the Office of Workforce Diversity, Equity and Life Quality worked with a committee to enlarge the university's anti-bias efforts by forming the Bias Activity Response Program. This program expanded the type of activity reported to include not only bias crimes but broader, university-defined "bias incidents" that included bias activity that was based on an aspect of diversity but did not rise to the level of being a crime.

As a result of the universitywide program, there have been more coordinated efforts with Cornell Police to address bias activity, Chappell-Williams said. The purpose of the bias response program, which involves administrators, staff members, faculty and students, is, she said: to provide assistance to individuals who have experienced bias activity; inform the Cornell community about the occurrence of bias activity; and deliver programs that promote dialogue on, and understanding of, such incidents.

During the past two years, Chappell-Williams said, the response program has been able to collect bias-related data university-wide, while also responding to bias crimes and incidents, both with advocacy and support for victims. Whereas crimes centering on race and/or ethnicity account for the majority of reported bias crimes nationally, Cornell does not mirror that trend. At Cornell, bias activity involving sexual orientation has been reported most heavily, she said.

Lauren Signer, acting chief of the Ithaca Police Department, spoke next about her involvement in drafting the city's hate-crimes ordinance and on the city's response to bias activity. The city's hate-crime ordinance addresses four types of bias-motivated crimes, she said: bias-motivated harassment, bias-motivated intentional criminal mischief, bias-motivated reckless criminal mischief and bias-related graffiti-making. Signer emphasized the city police department's commitment to enforcing the hate-crimes ordinance.

"We are here to serve [the community]," Signer said, pointing out that, since it was passed, there have been several charges made under the new ordinance.

Toward the end of the meeting, two student panelists representing Cornell and one representing Ithaca College discussed the roles of students as change agents in addressing bias activity.

Funa Maduka, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences and the new student-elected member of the Cornell Board of Trustees, said, "Students have so much grassroots power ­ that is where there is potential for change."

But she also pointed out that many students are still uninformed about where to turn to report bias-related incidents.

"Lots of people don't know who in their college to go to," Maduka said. "Too many are frustrated."

Shelley Facente, a senior at Ithaca College, talked about a recent editorial that ran in her student newspaper, accusing those on a diversity task force of being "Orwellian thought police."

"It ended up starting a huge dialogue," said Facente of the editorial and ensuing campus-wide meetings. "It created a real space for people to talk about bias-related incidents."

Emanuel Tsourounis II, a former Student Assembly president and a second-year Cornell Law School student, added: "I've always been in favor of being proactive rather than reactive. It involves making sure people are aware, having the support systems available, and having student organizations work together to make sure that diversity is a constant focus and a constant priority. [Maintaining] education and training while having students get involved in individual college teams is needed to further promote dialogue," he suggested.

The student panel was followed by a group discussion centering on developing proactive measures to address problems of bias in particular academic, work and on- and off-campus residential environments. Several recommendations were developed during the discussions, including: greater communication about what is being done to address bias activity at Cornell, a request that faculty make a statement in their first class of the year about the university's program to address bias activity, and including information about the bias program in new-employee and student-orientation programs.