Nipping bias

UMW proposal to combat acts of prejudice is a welcome reaction to a racial incident that inflamed the university's Fredericksburg campus

Date published: 2/3/2008

IT'S a sensitive subject, but the University of Mary Washington is off to a good start in addressing incidents of bias on campus. UMW proposes creating a uniform system by which students and employees would report bias incidents online and university officials would track the reports to detect trends and ensure that victims and offenders are properly dealt with.

The proposal, called for by acting President Rick Hurley, follows news last year that a freshman posted a flier outside his Jefferson Hall dorm room that depicted a smiling white basketball coach with his arm around a sobbing black player, captioned, "Slavery Reinstated: Catch yourself a strong one." Such sentiments are offensive on their face, and cause pain for the innocent.

If adopted, UMW's plan would parallel anti-bias rules recently put in place at the University of Virginia and the College of William & Mary. And by requiring complainants to identify themselves, it would avoid one goof that William & Mary made when it initially let students tattle anonymously, inviting false reports.

Furthermore, it would encourage people to report alleged acts of racism, sexism, or other similar offenses to campus police, who would document them. To try to resolve issues, a UMW official would meet with those who report problems.

Those are essential first steps to ensuring UMW is an inviting, open-minded sanctum for learning, and we commend Assistant Vice President Sabrina Johnson and the students and UMW staff who drafted the policy, with two caveats:

One is to reinforce, as Mr. Hurley has noted, that the university must take great care not to violate people's First Amendment rights to free speech. The answer to bad speech is good speech, not a muzzle--and certainly not one fitted by a state institution.

And second, to observe that a crucial companion to this proposal, which will spell out how UMW specifically would deal with offenders, is yet to come.

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Date published: 2/3/2008

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