Speak Out Session is a Success

As previously mentioned on ReligiousLife@MU and the Columbia Missourian’s blog “Faith in Focus”, many religious and non-religious organizations banded together last night to hold  “Speak Out Against Hate.” By all accounts this turned out to be quite a success. Many students representing many different groups and coming from many different walks of life attended the event.

The program began with a talk by Roger Worthington. Roger Worthington is the University of Missouri-Columbia’s Chief Diversity Officer. He spoke about the Campus Climate Study. The data for the study was gathered from 2001 through 2004.

The first phase of the Campus Climate Study involved Mizzou’s participation in a national study  led by Susan Rankin of Penn State University. This survey along with other data gathered by the university all pointed to the fact that many people on campus whether they are students, faculty or staff have faced some sort of harassment. What makes this even worse is that this is not unique to Mizzou, this is taking place on college campuses all around the country.

The talk then focused on biased incidents and hate crimes on campus at MU. Incidents include things along the lines of jokes, editorials, or objects, signs and symbols. There were many who had reported either being a victim or having witnessed an incident on campus. Missouri’s official definition of a hate crime can be found here. Examples that have been reported on campus at MU include: threats, harassing phone calls, vandalism, and “other”. Fortunately there have been no violent crimes or assaults on an actual person.

Roger Worthington then directed his talk in the direction of the consequences and effects of hate and biased related incidents. Victims of these incidents are more likely to suffer from symptoms such as Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression. These are symptoms similar to those of a combat soldier after they return home. One of the additional negative effects of hate crimes and biased incidents. First of all they can great affect those who simply witness these events happen, leading those individuals to anxiety and lower self-esteem. These crimes and incidents also affect the entire groups that the individuals represent. Not only are these attacks on the individual victims, but they are also attacks on the entire groups. The rest of the community can share in the trauma of the event.

After the talk the floor was opened up to anyone in attendance. During this time many people shared experiences and stories. For obvious reasons I cannot divulge details of what was discussed out of respect for the privacy for the individuals. What I can say is that the "speak out" session proved to be personal, powerful, and provoking.

Lastly, Noelle English of the MU Equity office spoke one the much publicized Hate Report. The Hate Report has received a lot of press recently, I guess we are just joining the bandwagon. The purpose of the Hate Report is to provide a place for students, faculty, and staff to report these sorts of incidents. The Hate Report will be a simple form on the web where individuals can file a report anonymously if they so choose. One could also elect to leave contact information, which would allow the office to follow up on the incident with whomever reports one. The MU Equity office can help those who have been through an incident get the proper help they need. The Hate Report will also enable the office to gather data over time and look for trends on campus. Noelle also announced that the Hate Report will be up and running the week after the Thanksgiving break.

It was truly amazing to see all the organizations plan this event and put it into action. This was a great display of many groups willing to rally around a common cause. As a public institution we are quite the diverse group ethnically, racially, and religiously. We all must recognize that yes we are different, but that does not mean we can’t get along and work together.

After the event was over I caught up with junior journalism student Maneeza Iqbal, a member of MSO and one of the chief organizers for the event. Maneeza felt that she wanted to hold an event because “it got to a point where something had to be done, everyday incidents are not ok.”

In terms of the actual event Maneeza felt it was “amazing.” She also commented, “Everyone learned something and got a lot out of it.” She even admitted to feeling nervous earlier in the day, but afterwards felt that, “it definitely went well.”

Going ahead Maneeza would like to “start a campaign, why don’t we keep this going?” She hopes to work with the organizations that helped to plan this event to launch an anti-hate campaign next semester. We here at ReligiousLife@MU certainly look forward to covering that upcoming campaign.