In response to reports of acts of hate and intolerance that occur on the campus, members of SAFE Team mobilize to go to a location near where the incident occurred and inform residents and community members about what happened. Using handouts, posters and discussion, SAFE Team will talk with members of the community and ask them to consider how such acts affect individuals and the community as a whole.
“SAFE Team is an important part of UD and Residence Life in particular when it comes to responding to hate acts in the residence halls and on campus,” Cathy Skelley, assistant director of Residence Life, said. “Because we respond to the specific location of the incident, we are able to inform community members of exactly what happened, which serves to dispel rumors, as well as engage them in a dialogue about how this impacts them and their community. The visual of 20 or more people stating: 'We don't want this in our community,' is very powerful.”
SAFE Team joined several campus groups to organize the “Stop the Hate March,” a University-wide awareness-raising event held in November 2005 in response to hate crimes on and around the Newark campus. During the march, several student organizations called for a campuswide campaign against hate crimes and offered their full support for such an effort.
Weeks after the march, the University launched a web site [www.udel.edu/stophate] dedicated to supporting victims of hate crimes and acting as a resource to enable individuals to identify, report and stop hate crimes.
The web site includes a list of links for those who want to report a hate crime, complete with the names of those to contact. There also are links to campus resources such as SAFE Team and Allies programs for students and employees. Additional links take users to off-campus resources that define hate crime, suggest ways to fight hate, promote tolerance and offer guidelines for collecting data on hate crimes. Also listed are links to news articles about what is happening on campus to deal with hate and hate crimes.
For more information or to participate in SAFE Team, visit [www.udel.edu/reslife/students/safe.htm] or contact Cathy Skelley at (302) 831-8423, [cathyqs@udel.edu] or Emily Smith at (302) 831-0415, [smithem@udel.edu].
Article by Martin Mbugua