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The class of 2028, Fisher’s most diverse class thus far, brings with them a bigger bigotry problem, one that the campus turns a blind eye to unless it is served to them on a plate.
On Sept. 20, 2024, Matha E. Thornton, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, sent a campus-wide email addressing the issue of vandalism in the residence halls. The vandalism included discriminatory language, harsh enough to be declared a hate crime, as stated in the student code of conduct. This situation is known as the “Residence Hall Incident” as stated in the email.
While this was the first incident to be reported campus-wide, these hate crimes are not new to our campus. These incidents are not limited to vandalism in residence halls, but include comments in person, internet posts berating campus clubs, and even posts on Yik Yak that students share and up-vote.
These situations need to be addressed for what they are: hate crimes. An incident can be something that happens accidentally or a small misunderstanding out of ignorance. A hate crime is premeditated and meant to cause harm to a specific audience. Watering the language down might take the importance out of the situation, and the delicate thing about these incidents is that they usually start with tiny micro-aggressions: comments made out of ignorance. Then slowly, the aggressors open the door for bigger and more hurtful actions once they understand how people around them will react, whether there’s recursion or brushing off.
Nevertheless, I can praise the recent new free expression policy on what you can and can’t discuss on campus and what they do to protect students who might suffer from these hate crimes. The new policy states that the following is prohibited on campus:
- Obscenities
- Hate Speech
- Harassment
- Violence
Sadly, this won’t stop those who don’t share the sentiment of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. The reality is that not everyone agrees with DEI initiatives. So, my wish is for the Fisher community to be equipped on what to do in a hate crime incident, whether it is supporting hate crime victims or if you were the one that suffered a hate crime. The mentality of, “if it didn’t happen to me, it is not about me,” needs to be buried. St. John Fisher University needs to acknowledge hate crimes for what they are and offer open resources, even if they are anonymous, because the reality is that these situations won’t stop anytime soon as our campus grows in diversity and student population.
These situations will easily be forgotten unless you’re the person affected by them, so I wonder, how many more situations and hate crimes have been dismissed by students who are scared?
