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REPORT AND RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE PRESIDENT'S DIVERSITY PANEL August 15, 2000
A. Physical Safety
The Panel has been informed of the many new practices, instituted
since the incidents of fall 1999, that will deal more effectively
with
crimes of hate and prejudice. Most important are the initiatives
intended to offer support to victims and other members of the
targeted
groups on- and off-campus. Also, significant steps have been taken
to
secure better cooperation and communication among administrative
units
that share responsibility for responding to hate incidents. The
PresidentŐs Diversity Panel heartily approves of these
measures; but
we continue to be concerned that students, faculty, and staff,
even with
the new measures, will not know where to turn first if they are
victims
of a hate crime, and may still find themselves talking to
individuals
who will not be knowledgeable about whom to contact. A1. Well-publicized Emergency
Number.
We
propose
that
every telephone on this campus include a sticker that reminds us
that
the campus emergency number is 911, and that that number be
monitored
always by someone who is able to connect emergency calls to the
appropriate help line or hotline, whether in the Counseling
Center,
the Health Center, the Police Department, or some other
university
office. In discussing the need for a well-publicized telephone
number
for reporting hate crimes, we noted that there is little
information
about where to turn in any emergency. We considered the idea of
a
separate number for hate crimes, but decided that the campus
needs one
single telephone number that we will remember, even when under
extreme
stress. Crucial is that the emergency number be identified as a
campus
number, since many people seem to think that
"911" (rather
than "9911") connects one to an off-campus emergency
service. And it is important that the number be monitored 24
hours/day, 7 days/week.
A2.Emergency Response Training.
Training must be provided for
persons
responsible for monitoring the 911 emergency number so they may
direct
calls appropriately.
A3. Accurate, Globally
Disseminated
Emergency Contact Information.
The University's web page should include
a very visible icon for
emergencies. Through a system of trial and error, we found a site
that
does inform students (but only students) whom they should contact
with
particular problems, but this site (under
"Information," and
below that, "For Students") is unmarked and would be
useless
in case of an emergency. The listing is also outdated and
incomplete.
What we have in mind is an item as visible as the current
"Hot
Topics," but clearly marked "In case of emergency,
call. . .
." Clicking this icon will provide a direct link to a listing
of
various potential problems (including hate crimes) and provide the
relevant numbers/offices to contact.
A4. Effective Handling of
Complaints for All UM Citizens.
Since
hate crimes have targeted victims among faculty and other
employees of
the university as well as students, we propose that authority for
handling them should be located in the Office of Human Relations
rather
than the Office
of the Vice-President of Student Affairs.
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