The University of Maryland, College Park has introduced a new protocol to deal with hate crime incidents on campus. The new protocol is aimed at ensuring a coordinated response, providing support to impacted community members and guaranteeing transparency with the campus community. The university’s Office of Diversity & Inclusion will hire a hate-bias response coordinator to assist with these efforts.
Under the protocol, community members can report hate-bias incidents to the University of Maryland Police Department or the university’s Office of Civil Rights & Sexual Misconduct. Once the incident report is reviewed, the offices inform one another and consult with relevant campus administrators regarding necessary and appropriate action. To ensure transparency for all hate-bias incidents on campus, the Office of Diversity & Inclusion in the future will maintain a log of incidents that will be updated as reports are received.
“A clear and transparent protocol for hate-bias incidents on our campus is essential to ensuring a sense of safety for our students, faculty and staff,” said Roger L. Worthington, the university’s chief diversity officer. “I believe this is an important step forward in maintaining a campus community deeply rooted in equity, diversity, and inclusion.”
The entire protocol may be viewed here.
