Purpose & Goals

Purpose

While there are formal channels to address complaints of bias or hate, our campus community at large is not aware of the extent to which these kinds of incidents may occur. The Bias-Hate Education Response Team (BERT) aims to create a greater awareness of how these incidents may be shaping our community. BERT creates a space for proactive dialogue related to emerging trends of bias or hate incidents.

Goals

Education

BERT will create an educational space for reflection and dialogue regarding incidents of bias or hate. This will positively augment existing formal vehicles for reporting these incidents. BERT will be represented by a cadre of faculty, staff, and students who will take an active role in addressing the trends of hate or bias incidents, create opportunities to confront these issues, and encourage dialogue for change.

BERT will promote community discourse where public incidents require dialogue, reflection, and understanding of how these incidents shape our collective identity on campus, even if we are not directly involved. This collective, thoughtful response by members of the Puget Sound campus community can lift the burden that is placed on individual students, faculty, and staff or on student organizations to address these incidents.

Tracking and Awareness

In collaboration with the Division of Student Affairs and the Office of Institutional Research, BERT will review aggregate data on incidents of hate or bias so that we may be proactive in addressing trends and increasing awareness on campus. Hate and bias behaviors may seem isolated, but when aggregated these incidents tell us a story about what is happening in our community.

BERT also may develop accessible, less formal approaches to tracking hate and bias incidents.