UCLA Student Affairs launched the Report Bias Web site last week, allowing students to use the Web to report offensive behavior regarding race, religion or sexual orientation.
A modification of the previous Report Hate Web site launched in 1999, the Report Bias site provides a place for students to openly discuss incidents they would not otherwise report in person, said Enku Gelaye, executive officer of the Office of the Vice Chancellor of Student Affairs.
“Our role at Student Affairs is to understand the policies of students,” Gelaye said. “This community that we’re in is a collaboration with the students, and if there is a problem that is causing harm, we’re not going to let students solve it themselves. We’re going to work with them.”
The site, which can be accessed both on and off campus, is directed specifically at UCLA students, though in certain instances, may involve anyone from visitors to professors and faculty. Reports are reviewed by the UCLA Office of the Dean of Students, and acts deemed offensive by office authorities may result in consequences, said Robert Naples, an associate vice chancellor of student affairs.
“The reports go to the Dean of Students’ Office, and we follow up on the individual,” Naples said. “If it is a situation with faculty code of conduct, visitor misconduct or staff misconduct, they all have to be addressed, but this is in no way intended toward professors giving their opinions.”
While the university receives a number of reports every day, only incidents involving violation of university law will be directly addressed, Naples said.
“Most reports are not actionable because they aren’t violation of student law,” Naples said. “We use it more for education. We act on behavior or conduct, not language; people who make statements are protected by the First Amendment.”
“Bias” refers to “any demeaning, derogatory or otherwise offensive behavior directed toward any individual on the basis of race, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion or other group characteristics,” according to the site.
“The bias issue is if a student feels like they have been mistreated, disrespected, discriminated against and that is in their own jurisdiction to feel that way,” said Cinthia Flores, Undergraduate Students Association Council president. “If someone feels a level of disrespect, they have a right to say something.”
In light of incidents of student misconduct in the past year, the Web site will increase and expedite the communication from students to faculty, Flores said.
“There were a couple incidents over the summer when students felt that they were personally attacked, and they reported it to program sponsors, who reported it to Student Affairs, and it took two weeks to get a response,” Flores said. “The site makes it faster and more accessible and respects people’s privacy.”
Ultimately, the site allows students to voice their discomforts and brings peaceful discussion among students with different views, Flores said.
“College is a free social setting for a lot of people of different racial background, nations, cities, class background, and it’s important for us to have that sense of accountability and responsibility to uphold them,” Flores said.