Students take a stand against hate

Louis Venturelli, sophomore class representative political science major, decided after the hate crimes last September that something needed to be done at Quinnipiac University, immediately. Venturelli googled ways to combat hate on college campuses and came up with the Southern Poverty Law Center's 10 Ways to Fight Hate on College Campus Web site and pamphlet. "They offered free resources, and sent us these pamphlets, and that's how we came up with tonight's program," Venturelli said.

On Thurs. March 5, about 150 students came see the presentation that was months in the making. The Student Government Association, the Faculty Senate, Student Occupational Therapy Association (SOTA), the Pan-Hellenic Council, all three sororities and the two fraternities, the Student Diversity Board and the Black Student Union (BSU) were just a few of the organizations involved.

Associate Professor of Communications, Liam O'Brien was the keynote speaker for the program and began the presentation with an explanation of his hometowns. O'Brien grew up in Hamden, and then moved to Cape Town, South Africa and then Simi Valley, California. His experiences in Apartheid South Africa showed him that people must stand for change in order for it to happen. In Simi Valley, O'Brien and his neighbors created a group called Neighbors Against Nazi's to speak out after the Rodney King trial.

"You are not alone; the things that have happened at Quinnipiac have happened all over the country, all over the world," O'Brien said. "It's time to stop this. Your job is to defend the constitution. What will you do?"

That simple phrase, "What will you do?" became thread that tied the entire program together.  President of BSU, Carla Brown, explained that rising up is the responsibility of students because "something must be done to fight hate." Other students of BSU, including Kwegyriba Croffie, secretary, acted out a skit that involved the actions of the night of QU's only classified hate crime- the crime of September 2008. The skit showed that silence and ignorance is just as bad as committing acts of hate and allowed all students to see that everyone really is responsible for these acts in their hometown. Croffie, a sophomore broadcast journalism major from Long Island, N.Y., said that being a minority student here isn't always easy.

"We have seen hate here, and this is a way that we could talk about it and share our experiences with our community," Croffie said. The lack of visible diversity on Quinnipiac's campus was not a factor in her decision to come here and that despite everything that has happened she loves it here; she loves Q-30, BSU and all the other organizations she works with.

"Many times students become divided, but change takes time and it's important to pull together in the face of hate," Nicole Fraise, president of Phi Sigma Sigma said. Frasier also cited a variety of ways for Quinnipiac students to come together, and reminded them of programs that have already happened- for example The Day of Silence and Take Back the Night.

Jeffery Press, member of Sigma Pi Epsilon, spoke of focusing on today and tomorrow and instead of denying what has happened; speak out so it never happens again. Jillian Clancy, president of Alpha Chi Omega, spoke about the effects of choosing to ignore hate crimes and the discontent that breeds them. In general, Clancy reminded the students, these events rarely impact you on a personal level.  However, the students affected often feel the effects of such actions for a long time. The most important part of supporting the victim is to remember never to speak out on their behalf.

According to Hillary Fournier, a member of the Pan-Hellenic Council, between the years of 2005 – 2007 there have been four forcible sexual assaults, three burglaries and three aggravated assaults on Quinnipiac's campus. Fournier reminded students that even though these crimes may not be as well known as the events of the past year, they still happened and still affected someone here. The crimes outlined in Fournier's speech were not classified as hate crimes by the Cleary Act and therefore did not have to be disclosed to students. According to Security on Campus, a national non-profit organization, the Cleary Act signed in 1991, and amended in 2008, "requires institutions of higher education to release campus crime statistics and security policies to their current and prospective students and employees." Prior to this act only four percent of colleges even reported acts of this nature.

The SOC is, according to their Web site, "dedicated to the prevention of criminal violence at colleges and universities nationwide through educational, awareness, and policy initiatives." Connie and Howard Cleary founded the SOC in order to promote these initiatives in memory of their 19-year-old daughter, Jeanne, who was raped and murdered in her dorm room.

The next point- "Understanding the Media"- was presented by Katie Harris and Ashley Lukens, members of Residence Hall Council. They spoke of how the media is biased on purpose, and even cited D.L. Hugley. "Dies in a ski accident- white guy, dies in a gang shooting, well he was black," D.L. Hughley said in his appearance in Alumni Hall last month. Harris and Lukens spoke of how students need to be vigilant about what they post and what is posted on Facebook. "Hold yourself to a higher standard, don't let rumors spread."

Charles Fischer, member of Tau Kappa Epsilon, reminded students that classified hate crimes, such as the ones that have happened here, are not the only acts of hate. "Sexual abuse, discrimination based on sexual orientation, assault and discrimination based on religious affiliation are also acts of hate."

"We must do the hard work of working together to teach tolerance," Victoria Stankus, of Kappa Alpha Theta said. Stankus also noted that although QU might not look diverse, "we are, we all have diverse opinions, ideas and perceptions and we must accept these and see each other as equals."