BLOG From CESJ: No Tolerance for Bias and Hate on UK's Campus

November 17, 2016

Open letter to University of Kentucky Campus from affiliates of the Center for Equality and Social Justice:

At their best, universities are places where diverse people gather to share information, discuss ideas, and challenge one another. At the University of Kentucky, like all universities, our mission is to educate, challenge, and foster the intellectual, social, and emotional development of our students. That mission must inherently include providing a safe and protected place for students — for all of our students — to develop into their best selves. Our goal is for our students to graduate from our university better equipped to understand and improve the world in which they live.

Before students can be educated and challenged, however, they must first feel safe. Unfortunately, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center, more than 300 bias crimes have been reported since the presidential election on November 8. This compounds the 7% increase in hate crimes in the past year as reported by the FBI. The second most common place for these bias crimes are universities, second only to K-12 schools. Our students and colleagues who are immigrants, Muslim, Latinx, Black, LGBTQ, or female are statistically most likely to be targeted by a bias crime. This is unacceptable.

As faculty affiliated with the Center for Equality and Social Justice at UK, we are committed to advocating for social justice within our university, communities, and public policies. We cannot be advocates for social justice without first acknowledging that social justice must begin at home. Thus, we are stating, unequivocally and without hesitation, that the University of Kentucky will not tolerate bias in any form. We denounce and will not tolerate harassment because of gender, race and ethnicity, gender identity, sexual orientation, immigration status, religion, economic status, ability, or political beliefs. We will not tolerate threats, vandalism, or assault. We will not tolerate hate speech. Every student, faculty member, and staff person must be able to feel safe here at all times. Otherwise, we have failed to live up to our mission as the University for Kentucky. We cannot fully educate our students if they feel marginalized, threatened, or devalued. We cannot help them become the leaders of tomorrow if they are worried about their safety today.

As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. stated, “The arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.” In the coming weeks, months, and years ahead, we will be pushing policymakers to focus on socially just and equitable policies and laws for the citizens of Kentucky. Until then, we are committed to ensuring that justice is not a distant ideal, but a daily assurance.

Sincerely,

The more than 60 Faculty Affiliates of the Center for Equality and Social Justice