In response to incidents of hate crimes earlier this semester, a new student group intends to combine numerous campus voices in an effort to increase awareness of intolerance on campus. The Cultural Coordinate Committee (CCC) began operation earlier this month.
Towards the beginning of the semester, a number of cultural groups were targeted by hate crimes. The Africana Center and its residents were objects of an attack in which racial slurs were written on flyers throughout Capen House. Racial epithets about Asian American students also appeared in South Hall, and homophobic slurs were scrubbed off of University sidewalks.
Created by the TCU Senate, the CCC is a branch of the Cultural Ethnicity Community Activities (CECA) committee. Attendants at a follow-up meeting to the "Dialogue on Race" hosted by Hillel on April 1 voted to create the CCC.
In their last meeting before Spring Break, CCC members broke up into working groups to examine aspects of campus life that need change. The three groups reported on issues that include Curriculum and Faculty Retention, Hate Crime Reporting and Awareness, and General Atmosphere and Education. The contact people for each group are, respectively, Chike Aguh, Iffy Mora, and Iris Halpern.
The group hopes to "accomplish an increased respect for the difficulties facing many of the students on this campus, creating a more positive and respectful atmosphere for the diversity at Tufts, and to create a sustainable movement by the end of this year which will carry on into the next year with increased strength and resolve," Halpern said.
After increasing campus awareness, the group intends to foster a campus-wide dialogue in which all students will participate.
"It is important that all students participate, and not just those that are already supportive," Halpern said. "Otherwise, it's preaching to the choir."
Senators have stressed the need to inform students how to respond if they are victims of hate crimes. Outgoing president Eric Greenberg has proposed the creation of a website outlining the steps a student must follow in order to file a hate crime report. TCU Vice President and junior Melissa Carson said she supports the idea.
"I think that a website outlining the steps and what to do if the steps fail is of the utmost importance," Carson said. "Students need to know where to turn if they follow the steps and fail to accomplish what they need to do. If someone calls the TUPD and does not get the appropriate response, they have to have other options available to them."
Carson said it doesn't matter whether the website is written by the CCC, the TCU Senate, or Student Services - as long as it gets completed.
Other campus groups are also taking action. Senior Vanessa Dillen, TTLGBC political co-chair, has created cards for students to carry in their wallets detailing the proper authorities to contact in the event of a hate crime. Carson hopes to put similar information in the Pachyderm.
In the spirit of the CCC, a number of campus groups have offered cross-cultural events, as well as programs designed to educate students about racism and prejudice. The Coalition for Social Justice and Non-Violence sponsored a workshop entitled "Confronting Racism, Challenging Privilege, Building Movements" on April 1. The Association of Latin American Students (ALAS) has sponsored two events designed to bring together students of different ethnicities. ALAS and the Pan-African Alliance (PAA) held a semiformal on April 13, and four comedians of different ethnic backgrounds presented a show titled "Spectrum of Laughter" on April 20. The PAA, African Students Organization (ASO), and Hillel have organized a number of programs focusing on black-Jewish relations.
Members of the student body are not alone in their efforts to ameliorate the situation, according to head of the Tufts Bias Response Team and Associate Dean of Students Marisel Perez. According to Perez, the administration has not seen a major increase in the amount of racist incidents on campus. Nevertheless, the administration is working to reduce the occurrence of these incidents and is hoping to train 12 sophomores and juniors next fall as peer educators.
"Most of the time, we have only been able to give an official response after an incident of racism," Perez said. "However, we recognize that this is not enough, that we need more student involvement and community outreach."
The Bias Response Team is currently waiting on funding from the Diversity Committee to implement formal dialogues, produce accessible information on filing incident reports, and hire a trainer for the 12 students who will comprise the committee.
Halpern said that individuals can be the driving force behind a change in campus atmosphere.
"Every person on this campus has the capabilities of doing something if they just invest in educating and understanding first," Halpern said.
