Cost of one year of out-of-state tuition and fees: $14,209

Lifelong value of your UW-Platteville degree: ?

Consider the cost of the 25 hate crimes that have plagued, unsettled and disgraced the campus and community this semester.

For UW-P students of color, the cost of hate is high indeed. White supremacist criminals have targeted specific individuals, vandalizing their homes and threatening their lives. These acts forced the affected students to move on short notice. How much would it cost you to break your lease right now and find a new place to live? All students of color must attend class, eat meals, go to work and go to sleep fearing for their safety, wondering if they’re being watched and followed by unknown persons who despise them because of their race. Can you imagine trying to complete quality classwork with the menace of strangers’ hatred dogging your every step? Would you stay late at the library to study for a test if you had to walk home alone fearing someone might attack you? Black students pay the same tuition bill as everyone else, yet these crimes rob them of the education they are due, the degree they came to earn at UW-P. The same is true of every student targeted by hate graffiti because of their race or sexual orientation.

For those of us who are white and straight, the costs of hate might appear to end there. Not so. Google the following phrase: “UW-Platteville quality education.” A search on Dec. 1 turned up 13,200 results. Now Google “UW-Platteville racism.” That same day, this phrase yielded 125,000 results. Top links included news stories in Wisconsin newspapers, television and radio stations and online media.

You might think the negative news won’t last, that these crimes will soon be forgotten. Recent history tells us otherwise. I began my position as a history professor here in 1997. When I told a lifelong friend about my new job, he recalled a classmate of ours who briefly attended UW-P and belonged to a campus organization which experienced a “racial incident.” That “incident” had occurred in 1987. If a secondhand story about racism can persist ten years before the internet was in widespread use, how long do you think news of 25 hate crimes in a four-month period will last? In the years to come, how many of your prospective employers will Google UW-P as they review your application and will discover link after link, page after page, detailing our university’s sordid record of racism?

I do my best to connect with as many students as possible. I would like to meet those of you that I’ve not been able to interact with yet. In addition, I would like to extend this offer to anyone who would like to meet with me for any reason or tell me about issues they would like to see resolved. You may contact me by e-mailing Student Senate ssenate@uwplatt.edu; I always respond to every email I receive. Feel free to stop by, say hi, or hang out with us in the Student Governance offices in the back of the Pioneer Involvement Center on the ground floor of the Student Center. You can also find us on UWP Link—to be Pioneer Link Dec. 15—or follow us on Facebook.com/UWPstudentsenate.

Regarding the racial events on campus and throughout the UW System, I’m short of words that haven’t been said by others already. It saddens me beyond belief that people I represent aren’t feeling welcome because of the actions of vandals. Going above and beyond the duties of my job in attempts to resolve these issues has affected me personally and academically. I share this to invoke a sense of action in you to go above and beyond what you normally would. I believe it is everyone’s shared responsibility to strive to make this campus a more welcoming and inclusive environment. To begin, it’s as simple as saying “excuse me, but that’s not funny” when you hear “that’s so gay,” or another discriminatory joke, comment, or action said by a friend or stranger. I would encourage everyone to join me and stop discriminatory jokes that are said by your family and friends at home over the break.

If we can all challenge our friends when they say or do inappropriate things, we will then be able to show support for all of our fellow Pioneers. Together, we can create a more welcoming, safe and inclusive place for everyone to enjoy. I hope everyone travels safe after finals and that next semester, when we come back together, we will celebrate our differences and respect everyone. Student Senate and other groups will help in creating the programming for this. It’s up to you to participate.

The reward for information has reached nearly $4,000 since it was first announced on Nov. 23—a positive sign and greater motivation to contact campus police through the anonymous UWPTIP tip line with any information—but that cannot be our result. As of last week, no one has offered any tip or clue. Anyone with information must come forward and add to the healing process.
We must also work to create a better environment on campus inside and outside of the classroom. Our civil discourse should be one of inclusion, acceptance and openness. Let us continue in what we have done to build that level of community among students, faculty and staff.

As the chancellors of all UW System colleges stated in a joint statement regarding civility, “civil discourse is a cornerstone of democracy and a central tenet of academic freedom. Building on this tradition, we must set the stage for ‘civil behavior’ in all its form. At times like this, we must recommit ourselves to a shared sense of civility. To be clear, this is not a call for limits on individual expression. Everyone has a right to his or her opinion, and everyone else has a right to challenge that opinion—with evidence and with respect. Nobody has a right to engage in abusive behavior, and we each have an obligation to challenge that kind of conduct whenever it occurs on our campus or in our communities.”

The truth of the matter is that we live in a racist society. This is not to say that we are all racists, but that racism is present. And while we cannot eradicate it, that does not mean that we shouldn’t fight to remove it from our own communities.

As we move forward, we are developing opportunities to educate the campus on all fronts, both for current and new students. You may see its effect on campus programming, guest speakers we invite and other activities we host. New students will experience our commitment to diversity during new student orientation and in other places before they assimilate into the regular campus population.

Some of you may have already noticed such changes. Our campus has engaged thoughtfully and intentionally. A list of planned responses to these bias incidents is available online at uwplatt.edu/chancellor/administrative-responses-to-bias-incidents and will be updated regularly. This list is indicative of what we are doing here on campus, and just as that list continues to grow, we must continue. We must keep thinking and acting because we are not done yet.

This fall, a number of our UW System campuses and surrounding communities have experienced incidents of violence and intolerance. Classmates, colleagues, and neighbors have been the targets of threatening graffiti, vandalism, harassment, bullying, intimidation and physical assault. Some were evidently targeted because of prejudice against their particular race, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, ethnicity or religion. Others were victims of ugly behavior often associated with overconsumption of alcohol.

We should all be disturbed by these kinds of events, and we should all take steps to prevent such behavior. Acts of intolerance and violence happen across our nation, in big cities and rural communities alike. However, even one such instance is cause for alarm, especially at universities where we strive to provide safe, collegial learning and working environments.

Universities and colleges are uniquely positioned to address these thorny issues. Civil discourse is a cornerstone of democracy and a central tenet of academic freedom. Building on this tradition, we must set the stage for “civil behavior” in all its forms.
What constitutes civil behavior? Are we contributing to a general sense of civility in our communities? Are we willing to confront those who engage in acts of disrespect and hostility?

Every generation must answer these questions, building upon lessons learned from the past. At times like this, we must recommit ourselves to a shared sense of civility. To be clear, this is not a call for limits on individual expression. Everyone has a right to his or her opinion, and everyone else has a right to challenge that opinion—with evidence, and with respect. Nobody has a right to engage in abusive behavior, and we each have an obligation to challenge that kind of conduct whenever it occurs on our campus or in our communities.

The vast majority of UW System faculty, staff, students, and alumni already share these values. We celebrate the heterogeneous blend of cultures, political viewpoints, personal histories, and worldviews that fuels learning and discovery.
Our institutions are working hard to address recent events we wish had never happened.

Individuals, groups, and entire communities have stood up, spoken out, and demonstrated their collective commitment to a safe and inclusive learning environment. They are collaborating with community agencies that share our interest in long-term solutions.

As we work toward these shared goals together, we encourage anyone who feels unsafe at any time to seek help from the campus police, your Dean of Students, the Human Resources office, or other university officials.

In addition, we hope that people will take time to explore these issues in more depth. One such opportunity is a special UW conference on “Civility in Everyday Life,” to be held Feb. 22-24, 2011, at UW-Oshkosh. Watch for more details.

Even if you cannot attend this particular conference, we hope that you will consider participating in similar local events, or you might choose to simply start a conversation with your roommates or co-workers about ways to make our UW System campuses models of what we want the larger society to become.

These vandals are not playing a prank anymore. There is intense and evil hatred occurring on the UW-Platteville campus, and watching it all unfold idly is not good enough to battle the injustice. If allowed, one idea can turn into an action and one action has the ability to change the world. This has led to countless injustices done to minorities in the world, including America’s shameful history of African American enslavement.

These two events have one thing in common: graffiti. It all begins with propaganda. When these modes achieve the ability to numb opinions in society, there is a lack of desire to stand up. Believing that there will be little to no effect in rising up against injustice is the first mistake that I urge all community members to stray from. Eventually the stagnant parties fall susceptible to persuasion and are easily conned.

Like Martin Luther King Jr. and other Civil Rights leaders, UW-P needs to fight the negative force with an even greater amount of peaceful and strong opposition. First, the community needs to establish the morals and ethics within itself. In order to fight the dampened spirits within the community, there needs to be understanding that this is no game. Eventually, comprehension will create a togetherness that can abolish this issue. If we stand as one, we will not fall.

It has been a disheartening experience to witness post-Civil Rights racism in the 21st century and how these continual acts of racism are desensitizing UW-P students. I hear the snide comments on campus about how the issue is being blown out of proportion and beaten to death. While the graffiti is being covered extensively, it is not the reason for discouragement within the student body. It is the simple fact that the racists are repeatedly wreaking havoc in order to create insecurity. Once they gain this, they will try to accomplish their next attack. UW-P as a community needs to wake itself from the racist anesthesia in order to stop any further events from occurring.

History can be repeated. All it takes is timing and determination. If the right side of this controversy stands up, then the UW-P campus can harmonize to catch the racist vandals and restore freedom and equality.