Representatives from several Georgetown departments joined with a handful of students to discuss growing concerns about hate and bias incidents on campus in Village C Alumni Lounge Wednesday night.

Members of the recently formed Hate and Bias Working Group outlined the measures they have taken to promote a community of tolerance at Georgetown and increase awareness about issues of hate and bias on campus.

Committee members included Todd Olson, vice president of student affairs, as well as students and representatives from Residence Life, University Information Services, the Office of Affirmative Action, the Department of Public Safety and the Women’s Center.

Olson said University President John J. DeGioia requested the formation of the committee in response to student concerns about several incidents of hate and bias on campus last spring.

The committee spent the summer developing methods to promote awareness about issues of hate and bias on campus and have created a Web site designed to provide easy access to information on reporting and dealing with incidents of hate and bias.

The Web site includes information from Georgetown’s code of conduct, a definition of incidents of hate and bias and a form for reporting incidents of hate and bias.

Olson said the Web site is still a work in progress and will eventually include a summary of incidents reported.

He said the work of the committee is not to create a new adjudication system, but to provide a “front door” for students to access information about dealing with incidents of hate and bias.

Olson said Student Affairs received complaints in the past because there was no clear and consistent manner of dealing with incidents that were disturbing to students but not technically violations of the code of conduct.

Dennis Williams, director of the Center for Minority Education Affairs and Associate Dean, said the Web site is designed to provide a method of dealing with incidents “that don’t have any place to go.”

“The definition of hate crimes is very narrow,” he said. “A lot of what people experience on campus and a lot of the kinds of incidents that occurred last spring may not fit a sort of neat definition of hate crimes.”

Williams said these incidents could include vandalism and anonymous harassment.

The committee members said that students should report incidents that concern them even if they may not technically violate the code of conduct.

“My position is, when in doubt, report it,” Williams said.

Olson said the Web site does not allow for anonymous reports of hate and bias because they want to be able to follow up on all incidents. He said while all reports are confidential, he thought it important for administrators to talk with students about their concerns.

In addition to allowing students to report incidents of hate and bias, the new Web site allows Student Affairs to notice and respond to trends in hate and bias incidents.

Williams said they will look for patterns in hate and bias incidents which will allow them to develop preventative measures.

Samantha Williams (COL ’06) said she attended the event as chair of GUSA’s Diversity in Religious Affairs committee.

“I think it’s a wonderful way of showing that lots of different branches of the university are committed to showing that we’re not going to have events like we had last year,” she said.

Student Association representative Happy Johnson (COL ’07) spent the summer on campus working on the committee. He also organized last night’s discussion along with GUSA’s Health, Safety and Justice Advocacy committee.

“I think there’s a lot of improvement to go,” Johnson said. “But I feel optimistic.”