The University has announced the completion of a new hate-crime and bias-motivated, offensive-conduct protocol, the product of student initiative and hours of work by many University offices. The protocol, which is currently undergoing minor revisions by the Office of Institutional Diversity (OID), will launch online before the semester's end.
Spurred by the racially charged incidents last October, students formed a unified movement called TRUTH and advocated before the administration for a well-defined and codified protocol. In response to student requests, a committee to develop such a protocol was formed and met throughout the fall and spring semesters.
"The result is a tribute to the students who became involved and spoke up," said Interim Dean for Student Development Paul Chebator.
The committee, which also met briefly this fall, was co-chaired by Acting Vice President for Student Affairs Sheilah Horton and Richard Jefferson, executive director for institutional diversity. Students comprised a significant contingency on the committee, drawing upon leaders from the TRUTH movement, the AHANA Leadership Council (ALC), the GLBTQ Leadership Council, and the Undergraduate Government of Boston College (UGBC) for input. It also included a diverse representation of faculty, and staff members - Boston College Police Department Police Chief Robert Morse; Henry Humphreys, director of Residential Life; and Ines Maturana Sendoya, director of AHANA Student Programs, to name a few.
"Students called for the University to develop a hate-crime protocol because they felt students didn't know where to report these incidents and that the procedure was unclear," Horton said. "The goal of the committee was to review processes that BC had in place to deal with hateful incidents and crimes."
Research by the committee showed that other universities had online links that explained their protocols - something that BC did not. Committee members then looked at these protocols at other universities and how they might be applied to the BC community, Chebator said.
2008 Woodie Awards
