The Daily OrangeBias-related incidents rampant on dorm whiteboards
By Cat Rudnicki
Posted: 9/30/03, 1:51 AM EST Section: News
A recent string of bias-related incidents across the Syracuse University campus is creating discussion about where a joke ends and a hate crime begins.
The approximately 25 bias incidents that have already occurred this semester are being handled by a 2-year-old protocol that forces the university to examine how it should respond when it is unclear if an offensive message was meant to be hurtful or funny.
Bias incidents,as defined by the Division of Student Affairs' Team Against Bias, is any "behavior which constitutes an expression of hostility against the person or property of another because of the targeted person's race, religion, sexual orientation ..."
The largest number of bias incidents in residence halls result from students leaving offensive messages on dry-erase boards attached to dorm room doors, according to Public Safety reports. These messages, whether left as a joke or with malicious intent, are handled with the same protocol.
According to the Division of Student Affairs, residence hall staff must inform Public Safety in the event of a bias-related incident. Public Safety then documents the details of the incident and takes a picture of the message if it has not been erased. Next, the residence director speaks to the victim to see how much support he or she will need. If the victim needs additional resources, he or she is referred to Judicial Affairs, counseling or the Team Against Bias.
This is the second year of the university's strict enforcement of bias incidents, but the problems persist.
Sophomore advertising and psychology major Laura Vanison, a resident in Lawrinson Residence Hall, was the victim of an incident the second day of school. Her roommate from last year came to visit when Vanison wasn't there and left a message with offensive language on her dry-erase board.
"I didn't think it was so bad," Vanison said.
Her roommate replaced some of the letters of the obscenities with asterisks, but left the message on the board. They received a visit from Public Safety the following night.
The approximately 25 bias incidents that have already occurred this semester are being handled by a 2-year-old protocol that forces the university to examine how it should respond when it is unclear if an offensive message was meant to be hurtful or funny.
Bias incidents,as defined by the Division of Student Affairs' Team Against Bias, is any "behavior which constitutes an expression of hostility against the person or property of another because of the targeted person's race, religion, sexual orientation ..."
The largest number of bias incidents in residence halls result from students leaving offensive messages on dry-erase boards attached to dorm room doors, according to Public Safety reports. These messages, whether left as a joke or with malicious intent, are handled with the same protocol.
According to the Division of Student Affairs, residence hall staff must inform Public Safety in the event of a bias-related incident. Public Safety then documents the details of the incident and takes a picture of the message if it has not been erased. Next, the residence director speaks to the victim to see how much support he or she will need. If the victim needs additional resources, he or she is referred to Judicial Affairs, counseling or the Team Against Bias.
This is the second year of the university's strict enforcement of bias incidents, but the problems persist.
Sophomore advertising and psychology major Laura Vanison, a resident in Lawrinson Residence Hall, was the victim of an incident the second day of school. Her roommate from last year came to visit when Vanison wasn't there and left a message with offensive language on her dry-erase board.
"I didn't think it was so bad," Vanison said.
Her roommate replaced some of the letters of the obscenities with asterisks, but left the message on the board. They received a visit from Public Safety the following night.
