EDITORIAL BOARD Christine Byrd
Editor in Chief
Michael Litschi
Managing Editor
Jonah Lalas
Viewpoint Editor
Barbara Ortutay
News Editor
Amy Golod
Staff Representative
Timothy Kudo
Staff Representative
Brian O’Camb
Staff Representative
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Though it may not eradicate hatred and prejudice, UCLA’s
new hate crimes policy shows such actions will not be tolerated by
the campus community ““ at least not officially.
But it will take more than an administrative decree to end
prejudice and intolerance.
Unfortunately, it took an a string of hate crimes on campus to
get the policy completed. Last spring, an African American woman
was assaulted by a white man yelling racial slurs, and vandals
targeted the offices of student advocacy groups and officials, as
well as student newsmagazines that cater to underrepresented
minority, Jewish, Muslim and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
communities. UCLA could no longer deny that a hate crimes policy
was needed ““ and soon.
Last week, Chancellor Albert Carnesale made the policy official
by approving an amendment to UCLA’s Student Code of Conduct.
Now the university can impose harsher punishments on students who
commit hate crimes. California already has laws in place to
prosecute those involved in hate crimes, but we commend the
university for stressing the importance of stopping hate.
But we should not rely on punitive measures alone to curb hate
crimes. A long-term solution involves educating people about
minority groups and addressing the motivation behind the hate
crimes. Education in diversity would help make students more
sensitive to minority issues and more understanding of members of
different backgrounds.
Sadly, UCLA is not doing this.
Though UCLA has taken the initiative to enact a hate crimes
policy, it’s still the only UC without a diversity
requirement. Though UCLA already has ethnic, LGBT and gender
studies programs, students are not required to take the courses
offered. Moreover, the majority of students who do take such
courses are usually already sensitive to these issues.
This doesn’t do much to solve the problem of affirming the
experiences of historically marginalized groups. A diversity
requirement would ensure that students who would otherwise not take
these classes, do take them. If students become empathetic to
people from other communities on campus, they may be less likely to
tolerate or commit hate crimes.
But diversity requirements do not replace diversity itself.
This year, UCLA received a record number of applications from
students belonging to underrepresented minority groups, if for no
other reason, then because there was a record number of applicants.
This means nothing, however, if these applicants continue to be
admitted in embarrassingly low numbers.
Having diversity at UCLA means students, faculty and staff will
have the opportunity to interact with people of different
backgrounds. Hating someone because of who they are ““ whether
it be their ethnicity, religion, disability, gender, or sexual
orientation ““ may result from a lack of exposure to people
from these groups.
Interaction facilitates the development of compassion toward
others. While students could learn about minority communities in
the classroom, nothing surpasses the education acquired from
interacting with others outside of class.
But students cannot interact with people of minority communities
if they are not here.
Hate crimes are serious offenses that affect entire communities,
not just individuals. Now that the university has taken a positive
step forward in terms of punishing those who carry out hate crimes,
it must revisit and meditate on the real root of the problem. If
students don’t take the initiative to educate themselves
about UCLA and society’s diversity, the university needs to
make sure they do by implementing a diversity requirement and
fortifying campus diversity.
UCLA should utilize its potential to reduce hate crimes and
increase tolerance in the campus community by taking action.