RESPONDING
to HATE CRIMES and BIAS-MOTIVATED INCIDENTS on COLLEGE/UNIVERSITY
CAMPUSES
A
Guide from The Community Relations Service
In
this report, the Community Relations Service (CRS) Director
notes that "there is no place where hate crimes are
occurring with increasing frequency, more visibility and
hostility, than in institutions of higher education."
The
CRS, an arm of the U.S. Department of Justice, was formed
as part of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Their ongoing mandate
is to help resolve and prevent racial and ethnic conflict
using conciliation, mediation, crisis management and violence
reduction techniques.
In
response to campus concerns, the CRS has produced a new
guide that is available on the web at http://www.usdoj.gov/crs/pubs/campus.htm.
It is also available formatted for download. The guide,
approximately 12 pages in length, is designed to support
campus members who may respond to hate-motivated incidents
or work toward their prevention.
Three
distinct types of hate incidents are described in some
detail. These types, based on offender motivations, include
reactive, impulsive, and premeditated incidents. Case
examples and sample best practice policy guidelines are
provided, as well as information on recommended case investigation,
reporting and prevention best practices.
While not widely known, the Community Relations Service
has considerable experience providing Campus Mediation
Services upon request by school officials, faculty, students
and law enforcement. Once alerted to potential tensions
arising from racial, ethnic or national origin conflicts
on a campus, the CRS conducts an assessment to determine
if it can provide assistance to resolve the issues in
the school community. They are committed to a 24 hour
response time in crisis situations, and to a 3-day turn-around
in non-crisis situations. They are required by law to
conduct their activities in confidence, without publicity,
and are prohibited from disclosing confidential information.
For
more information on the CRS and your nearest regional
office, visit the CRS
website or call (202) 305-2935.
Note:
Readers concerned about this topic may also be interested
in the recent article Hate
Goes to School from the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Also relevant are two online articles from the 1995 HEES
Review: Prejudice and Discrimination on the College Campus
by Thomas Pettigrew and Prejudice and Ethnoviolence on
Campus by Howard J. Ehrlich.
ONLINE
COLLABORATIVE LEARNING HANDBOOKS and Sample Forms
Puzzled
About Teams: AóStudent Handbook Written by Students is
a nicely designed, concise and informative guide for student
groups needing to work collaboratively. The
online handbook was designed and developed by Penn State
students Tracy Gill, Kara Heermans, and Roshani Herath.
Topic areas covered include:
- Collaborative
Examples
- Teambuilding
- Working
as an Effective Team
- Goal
Setting
- Brainstorming
- Group
Communication
- Group
Development
- Group
Problems
- Conflict
- Studying
as a Group
- Extending
Beyond the Classroom
- Resources
The
handbook is a project of the Schreyer Institute for Innovation
in Learning at Pennsylvania State University. The Institute's
mission is to promote a partnership between students and
faculty to design, conduct and engage in problem-focused,
problem-framing learning experiences that foster inquiry,
initiative and team work.
Another
nice resource available at the Institute's website is
the Learning Teams Handbook for Faculty that includes
various downloadable sample forms such as:
- Brief
outline of the stages of team growth
- Sample
handout of tips on conducting a meeting
-
Sample handout of tips for managing team conflict
- Sample
handout of tips for dealing with difficult members
Finally,
readers of the REPORT may be interested in the available
materials on developing case studies. The Case Writing
Guidelines were prepared for faculty members who are thinking
about using cases as part of their courses.
- Guidelines
for Writing Cases
- General
Tool for Evaluating Cases
- Evaluation
Rubric for Cases
- Additional
Evaluation Rubric for Cases
- Sample
Peer Evaluation Form
For
more information on the Schreyer Institute for Innovation
in Learning call (814) 865-8681 or email inov8@psu.edu
CAMPUS
DIVERSITY RESOURCE COLLECTION
Nurturing
and managing diversity of college and university campuses
requires creativity, courage, and careful planning. A
free CD-ROM documenting over 300 initiatives designed
to enhance diversity on college campuses is now available
to help people working on this pressing concern. The CD
was developed by Bob Steele and Juan Carlos Pena with
funding from the Ford Foundation. The Windows and Mac
compatible disc, labeled the DiverseCD, has three
major components.
Diversity Breadth and Depth
- Includes finely detailed examinations of what three
states and 17 campuses are doing to enhance diversity
by building deeper understandings and more inclusive practices.
Along with information on how this being done, are included
program and department descriptions, course syllabi,
and interviews with students, faculty, and administrators
about how these diversity efforts have affected their
campuses and them.
Diversity Connections 2.0
- Includes the Diversity Connections 1.0 collection
with its profiles of the multicultural initiatives sponsored
by three foundations at over 200 campuses, its In-Depth
looks at the activites of over 50 schools, its Diversity
Search and Match feature and its nearly 200 syllabi.
In addition, it now contains over 75 new syllabi
on topics including race/ethnicity/nationality, gender/sexuality/sexual
orientation, class, religion, ability, and age in a multitude
of social, cultural, and historical contexts viewed from
a variety of perspectives; and updates, drawn from DiversityWeb,
of the profiles of 47 schools who were originally featured
in Diversity Connections 1.0; and new profiles of the
efforts of 53 colleges and universities.
Diversity Links -
An annotated directory to 750+ web-sites featuring
educational, business, and governmental efforts to foster
diversity and intercultural communication.
Note:
For more related information, check out the extensive
collection of information found at DiversityWeb
hosted by the University of Maryland.
NEW
VIDEO ON RESTORATIVE JUSTICE ON CAMPUS
As noted
in our first
issue, the University of Colorado at Boulder has developed
a program using principles of restorative justice as an
alternative to their Student Judicial Affairs process.
It is a collaborative project involving the Ombuds Office,
Office of Judicial Affairs, the University Police Department,
Housing, the Office of Victim Assistance, and the Student
Conflict Resolution Service. They use this approach when
students who violate the Student Code of Conduct admit
wrongdoing. Offenders, harmed parties, supporters of offenders,
supporters of harmed parties, and affected community members
are brought together to have a discussion (called a "conference"
or "circle"). All parties present (including the offender)
develop and sign a contract involving specific actions
the offender will take to repair the harm done to relationships
and to the community by her/his actions. So far, this
appears to be a very successful program.
With financial assistance from a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
grant, the staff has produced a high quality videotape
about the restorative justice program. The videotape is
now available for $50. If you are interested in exploring
the possibility of establishing such a program on your
campus, this videotape will give you a good introduction
to what is involved.
If
you are interested in buying the tape, use
the attached order form.
STUDENTS'
REFLECTIONS ON MORAL CONFLICTS IN COLLEGE
For
most students, the college years are a pivotal time of
re-examining beliefs and values and forming new commitments.
Higher Education's role in promoting ethics and morals
is receiving increased attention. A new online publication
known as the Journal of College and Character takes
this topic as it's central focus. In a regular feature
of the publication hosted by CollegeValues.org,
college students from around the country share their reflections
on moral conflicts in college and the experiences
and learning which have helped them to
develop ethically during their college years. Students
are invited to contribute to the essay collection, which
is regularly updated.
CUNY
DRC WORKING PAPER SERIES COMPENDIUM
The CUNY Dispute Resolution Consortium
is pleased to announce the publication of its first compendium
of reports on research that it has funded. Since its inception,
the CUNY DRC has been supporting a wide range of research
undertaken by CUNY faculty and graduate students. The
volume, which was edited by former CUNY DRC Co-Convener
Professor Louis Guinta, includes fourteen reports. Each
of the reports included in the volume are also available
as an individual working paper. The compendium's contents
are divided into four sections: Cultural Diversity, School
Based Settings, the Workplace, and Public Policy. Included
are a number of higher education conflict resolution related
works. The collection costs $14.95 which include shipping
and handling. Please contact the CUNY DRC dispute@jjay.cuny.edu
for purchasing instructions or for more information.
Compendium items that may be
of particular interest to readers of the REPORT include
the following:
Italian American Students at CUNY: An Exploratory Study
of Interpersonal Conflict and Student Development
by Nancy L. Ziehler & Maria Grace LaRusso
Abstract
Italian American students represent the single largest
European ancestral group attending The City University
of New York. While a small body of research literature
has profiled their demographic characteristics (Blumberg
& Lavin, 1985; Castiglione, 1982; Krase, 1982) and psychoeducational
concerns (Perrone, 1986), little is known about the nature
of their interpersonal conflicts and possible adverse
effects on the quality of their educational experience.
The primary purpose of this project, therefore, is to
explore and document perceptions of interpersonal conflict,
self-reported by Italian American students, that impede
educational adjustments and general satisfaction at CUNY.
Based upon an interactionist perspective, which recognizes
the influence of contextual factors on human development
(Lerner, 1989), 15-25 student volunteers will be recruited
to participate in semi-structured, in-depth interviews
designed to identify and assess interpersonal conflicts.
Interpersonal conflicts will be examined within the context
of several key categories related to college life. These
categories will include, but not be limited to: student-to-student,
student-to-faculty, student-to-administrators, student-to-campus
organizations, and student-to-institution. Data will be
coded and analyzed according to qualitative methodological
standards (Ely, 1993). Conflict coping strategies will
be addressed in subsequent focus groups targeting specific
issues that have emerged as a result of the data analysis.
An Investigation of Conflicts Involving Asian and Asian
American College Students
by Nancy Duke S. Lay & Elvira Tarr
Abstract
The conflicts among Asian students and those between non-Asian
and Asians are the subject of this study. An investigation
into the sources of the problems will be identified by
the distribution of a questionnaire which will provide
information for research by a selected group of students.
A handbook will then be prepared, based on the findings,
which can be used by students as the basis for understanding
the causes of conflict and will also provide material
for discussion groups.
Reflections on Mediation in the African American Community:
Cultural Diversity and the Need for an Alternative Model
by Lynn Hurdle-Price
Abstract
This study focuses on the responses of African American
to the current community and school mediation models used
in New York State. It presents as a hypothesis that the
model is based on European American values that do not
always take into account the cultural values and norms
of African Americans.
Editor's
Note:
Other relevant small grant projects that have been funded
by the CUNY DRC but not yet reported on include the following
Study of a College-Community Collaboration of Dispute
Resolution for Adolescents
Jacqueline W. Ray
Abstract
This study will examine the impact of participation as
a mentor in a community based mediation program on career
choices, and on personal and professional relationships.
Since 1980, York College has collaborated with Community
Mediation Services, a nonprofit agency, in developing
and providing education and training to college students
who serve as mentors for delinquent, PINS and at-risk
youth. Assessments of the program's educational and training
approaches will be conducted. Findings from this study
will be used to revise the curriculum and share findings
with others in academic and dispute resolution settings
who are interested in alternative models.
Dispute Resolution Teams vs. Individual Negotiators
Patricia Orsatti Evanoski, Queensborough Community College
Abstract
This study is designed to investigate whether a dispute
resolution team consisting of a student and a faculty/staff
member is more successful in resolving disputes than a
student or faculty/staff negotiator alone.
Page
last updated
11/27/2005
A
project of Campus Conflict Resolution
Resources.
Supported by a FIPSE grant from the US Department of Education
and seed money from the Hewlett Foundation-funded CRInfo
project.
Correspondence
to CMHE Report
(Attn: Bill Warters)
Campus Conflict Resolution Resources Project
Department of Communication
585 Manoogian Hall
Wayne State University
Detroit, MI 48201.
Please
send comments, bug reports, etc. to the Editor.
© 2000-2005 William C. Warters & WSU,
All rights reserved.
