A committee formed at San Jose State University after a black student said his white roommates racially harassed and tortured him has issued a set of recommendations to the school on how it can improve safety and diversity on campus.
Some of the recommendations made by the Special Task Force on Racial Discrimination in its final report issued Friday are that the university should: provide diversity training for all students living in the dorms; create web links that allow people to anonymously report race-bias incidents; ensure that staff members make frequent visits to observe activities in dorms; conduct a campus climate survey every other year; and create an Office of Diversity Engagement and Inclusive Excellence.
"The task force has offered more than 50 suggestions," said San Jose State President Mohammad Qayoumi in a statement. "In the aggregate, they reflect the diverse experiences and perspectives on this committee, as well as input offered by others."
But, he added, "There are no easy or quick fixes."
In March, the black student, Donald Williams, filed a $5 million claim against the university over the incident.
Williams's four white suitemates - Logan Beaschler and Colin Warren, both 18, Joseph Bomgardner, 19, and an unidentified juvenile - are accused of putting a bike lock on his neck last fall, taunting him with racial slurs, barricading him in his room and putting up a Confederate flag.
They have pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor hate crime charges.
Editor's Note: What do you think about the four specific recommendations listed in this article?
Copyright 2014 The Associated Press.
Comments
Good point
This crossed my mind as well. I thought about the degree of responsibility the school had regarding this vs the boys who acted. I am wondering if the institution wasn't sued would the task force been implemented? Are institutions responsible for how the member within conduct themselves? I believe there has to be a partial responsibility on the institutions part because it creates place and houses those who perpetrated those acts.
Im not sure if I agree
Im not sure if I agree completely that the school should have been sued, whereas the individuals themselves. Of course the incident happened on the school campus, but how would they have known what was going on inside a dorm room. A school campus isn't like a daycare they are not monitored 24/7!
recommendations
I like the recommendations that were presented by the school. I think a lot of the racist issues that occur are hidden out of fear. With an anonymous way to report issues, I feel it will help prevent the same type of incident from occurring again.
Reading about hate crimes
Reading about hate crimes like this are actually shocking and I think they need larger recognition. I like the diversity related changes the school is planning to implement and I believe that the anonymous racial-bias reporting would be especially beneficial. I also think diversity training is valuable. I have learned so much through this elective sociology class and other students could greatly benefit from similar awareness education and training.
I think this is awful, but
I think this is awful, but why did the racism victim file a $5 million claim against the school and not the students who actually harassed him?
Acknowledgement is good
It is examples like these that showcase how much of a problem racism still is. One would think that those claiming racism to be a problem of the past would begin to see differently. How can this kind of treatment be explained away? I think the diversity training is a good start with an outline of what will tolerated and consequences of not adhering to those rules. The anonymous web links are fantastic since a student will more likely be prone to reporting incidents without fear of repercussion. Any feedback from surveys would be good and vigilant supervision might help deter any harassment that may occur. I think in this situation there is only so much an institution can do to dismantle the harm done by generational learning kids coming into the college already have. It is good that this has not been swept under the rug or just dismissed and that there is enough care to at least make an attempt to correct it for the future.
It starts at home
I commend the University for the effort in implementing these programs at the University to help ensure safety and diversity for its students. On the other hand it is so hard to tell what goes on in the head of some of these students when they commit these psychotic crimes, which makes it harder for anyone to try to put a stop to it. I believe that racism is learned early on in life mostly by family and peers, with that being said unless someone walks around with "I am a racist" tattooed on their forehead its almost impossible to prevent instances such as this one!
I think improving safety and
I think improving safety and diversity on campus is the best recommendation as for safety is one of the very important thing for the student who are living on campus to feel like they are in safe place without any criminal incidents to occur either associating with their fellow students or people who are outside the campus. Furthermore for the diversity is important also because people from different ethnic group should be treated equally without any biasness.
Racism is always shown a
Racism is always shown a blind eye, but i do believe that its super important for systems like this to be implemented in all schools, but to be expanded for all kinds of bullying.
You're right that there is
You're right that there is more bullying being done than just bullying based on race. They all need to be stopped. The biggest thing we need to show all students is that everyone is equal. White, black, straight, gay...It doesn't matter. The golden rule is to treat others the way you want to be treated. It shouldn't be so hard for everyone to follow.
Wonderful Stratagies
I believe that all the proper steps were taken here, and all the options for the students who felt "bullied" per say were 100% legit and there to help. Although the recommendations were wonderful and give the helpless hope that do not solve everything. What those white boys did to him was completely inappropriate and should come with server consequences! This should never be an option for anyone to have, being so negative and cruel to another human being. This college may also want to look into back ground checks during the enrolment process just to relieve any negative behavior before it even enters the college.
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