Addressing Bias Incidents in Our Community

October 26, 2022

Dear Western Community,

Last week, Western students and staff acting with care for their peers and our greater university community rightly documented and reported antisemitic messages drawn on a dry erase board in the Viking Union to the Bias Response Team (BRT) and University Police (UPD). The BRT is supporting students and community members affected by these antisemitic messages and UPD is investigating.

This isn’t a one-off and Western isn’t alone. Incidents of antisemitism have been rising across the country. Here at home, our Bias Response Team has received multiple reports of written and verbal bias in recent weeks. These have included the antisemitic messages in the Viking Union; anti-gay, anti-trans, anti-Black, and antisemitic vandalism in and around residence halls; bias incidents experienced by disabled and BIPOC students; and handwritten notes in Bond Hall with anti-trans, anti-Iranian, and anti-Islam messages.

These hateful actions are unacceptable and have no place at Western. If you are writing such messages or engaging in this vandalism, stop. Your behavior is antithetical to our core values, including respect for the dignity of all people in and beyond our community. Your actions can violate the Student Conduct Code. Students found responsible for violations of the Code will be sanctioned, with possible sanctions including suspension or expulsion from the university.

To our students and colleagues who are Jewish, Muslim, BIPOC, disabled, queer, and trans – including those of you who hold multiple of these identities – you belong here. As do all in our community who hold marginalized identities. Western is better because you are here.

To the many of you who regularly act – in your clubs, residence halls, classrooms, departments – to build a more caring, equitable community, thank you for the work you do. Far stronger than cowardly acts of hate and bias, you demonstrate the power and joy and richness to be found in pursuits animated by Western’s shared values.

There are ways we can all take action to address acts of bias and build caring community. Here are a few, with more to be posted on the ADEI Unit website (https://ess-adei.wwu.edu/).

  • If you feel safe doing so, be an upstander, not just a bystander: This means interrupting harmful behavior as it is happening, including actions by friends and acquaintances, even when doing so feels uncomfortable. Use simple and direct language: “Stop writing that.” “That’s not okay.” “Quit it. I’m serious. Stop.”
  • Report the bias incident: Whether or not you intervene, report bias incidents you witness at https://www.wwu.edu/sebrt/report-bias-incident. You can also make reports anonymously and do not need to know the identity of the perpetrator to make a report. The more we know what is happening, the better we can address it.
  • Build skills to intervene: Next month, the ADEI Unit and Bias Response Team will provide training about how to be an upstander who intervenes in bias incidents. Sessions will be Thursday, Nov. 10, at 4 p.m. and Wednesday, Nov. 16, at 4 p.m. and are open to all Western students, staff, and faculty. Locations will be posted at https://ess-adei.wwu.edu/events.
  • Share your perspectives: Dr. Jacqueline Hughes, Western’s inaugural Chief Diversity Officer and Executive Director of the Office of Equity, is holding University Community Listening Sessions for students, faculty, and staff through mid-November. Your insights matter. Details about the listening sessions are at www.wwu.edu/oe/university-community-listening-sessions.

Leaders in the ADEI Unit, including myself and the directors of Multicultural Student Services, the Disability Access Center, and LGBTQ+ Western, will hold our quarterly open discussion on Nov. 3 at 4 p.m. in the Multicultural Center. The conversation will be student-centered, and staff and faculty are also welcomed to attend.

  • Participate in upcoming Social Justice & Equity Committee workshops for faculty and staff. Sessions will be held via Zoom and space is limited. Contact Lucas G Senger (Lucas.Senger@wwu.edu) or Shevell Thibou (Shevell.Thibou@wwu.edu) for details, including registration links.
    • Inclusive Excellence in the Classroom, for faculty and instructional staff. Thursday, Oct. 27, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.
    • Fostering an Everyday Culture of Inclusion & Belonging, for staff and faculty. Thursday, Nov. 17, 9 a.m.-12 p.m.
    • The Art of Work: Building Your Personal Brand, tailored to faculty and staff who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color, exploring professional success dynamics. Thursday, Dec. 1, 9 a.m. – 12 p.m.
  • Attend a teach-in about the uprising in Iran: Happening next Wednesday, Nov. 2, at 4 p.m. in the VU Multipurpose Room, co-organized by the ADEI Unit and the Munro Institute for Civic Education. The panel will be followed by time for community-building.

I look forward to our ongoing work together.

 

In community,

Litav Langley, 

Assistant Vice President for Access, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

Division of Enrollment and Student Services