#HillAgainstHate

The #HillAgainstHate campaign seeks to spread awareness of incidents of hatred and bias on the Stonehill College campus and send a message that these acts do not belong in our campus community.

The #HillAgainstHate campaign is a response to a number of incidents of bias and hatred that have occurred on the Stonehill College campus and that have had a significant impact on historically marginalized and underrepresented communities.

On February 7, 2019, the College hosted a teach-in event, Light and Hope against Hate, which sought to bring the community together to share in learning, dialogue, activism, and healing in response to overt bias incidents and acts of hate that occurred at the end of the fall 2018 semester. The goal of the teach-in was to explore the impacts of bias incidents and hate speech and to bring the Stonehill community together in solidarity against hate and bias on campus.

Beyond the teach-in, we at Stonehill are committed to continuing the conversation on how to resist hate speech and create a campus environment that is safe and welcoming for all members. In light of the College's commitment to honoring the dignity of every individual within our community, we must commit to the work of facilitating a culture of respect, compassion, and reconciliation.

Being a Prosocial Bystander

At Stonehill College, we aim to provide all community members with the skills, knowledge, and tools available to take active steps to address bias and hate on campus. We, therefore, ask and expect that all Stonehill community members serve as prosocial bystanders when they encounter acts of bias or hate on campus, big or small. Here are some ways in which you can be a prosocial bystander and address bias and hate in your everyday interactions:

1. Address the offensive behavior directly. It is important to let the person who is engaging in offensive or hateful behavior know how their behavior is impacting others. Here are some examples of how you might start that conversation:
   1. "Excuse me, but I noticed you said/did _____. Do you mind asking what you meant by that statement/action?"
   2. "Hey, I just want you to know I heard what you said/saw what you did, and I am feeling angered/frustrated/concerned, etc."
   3. "Instead of saying (the offensive statement), you might want to think about the words/language you're using and try a different phrase instead."
2. Support the victim(s) in the moment. As offensive or hateful acts occur, it has the potential to impact members of the community, particularly if they are members of underrepresented communities (e.g. people of color, people with disabilities, immigrants, women, LGBTQ+ individuals, etc.). If you are concerned about someone, consider reaching out to them in a respectful and appropriate fashion:
   1. Ask them what they may need at the moment. If they state that they do not need anything, simply respect that and let them know you are thinking of them.
   2. Show compassion to someone in need. It is also helpful to pay attention to signs of distress and offering support to help that person navigate their emotions.
   3. Serve as an ally or advocate. It can be difficult for someone who is a victim of a bias or hate incident to advocate for themselves. Use that moment to speak in support of those individuals, while being respectful of that individual's dignity and perspective.
3. Seek help from peers, mentors, or campus staff. In situations where it may be challenging to address hate or bias incidents on your own, enlisting support can help you address these incidents as effectively as possible
   1. Use this moment to pay attention to your surroundings. Are you noticing that others are uncomfortable with the incident? Consider checking in with those individuals and seeing about addressing the incident together with the person engaging in the offensive behavior.
   2. Consider reaching out to a fellow peer or student leader such as a Resident Assistant, Advocate for a Brighter Stonehill (ABS) Leader, Peer Mentor, or other student leaders on campus.
   3. If health and safety are of great concern or if there is an emergency, please contact the Stonehill College Police Department at (508) 565-5555.
4. Take an educational approach with the offenders. In some incidents involving bias, people who engage in offensive behavior sometimes are unaware that they are causing harm. Nonetheless, it is important to address the behavior from a place of compassion and avoid doing further harm to those individuals.
   1. Consider relating to the person engaging in the behavior. There may have been a time when you once made offensive statements or engaged in problematic behavior. Using your own personal experiences, you may be able to connect with the person engaging in the behavior to think about their actions and make different choices in the future.
   2. Try and focus on engaging in dialogue, not debate or argument. Dialogue is about seeking to understand another point of view before being understood. Don't focus so much on being right, but on understanding the behavior and sharing a different point of view that might help them think differently.
   3. Remember that they deserve dignity just as much as anyone. It is important to recognize that a person's biases do not define who they are and that they deserve a chance to learn how to be more just and compassionate towards others.

Campus and Community Expectations

We at Stonehill College are committed to creating a campus environment where every member of our community and our guests feel at home and are not targets of hate or bias. We strive to keep community members informed of the resources available to them whether they are impacted by bias or hate or wish to expand their learning. This resource list is a partial one, and we aim to update this page with additional resources as we learn about them.

We encourage all Stonehill community members to consider reviewing the following documents and pages to become more familiar with the College's community expectations and commitments regarding diversity and inclusion.

• Mission & Philosophy: Our Commitment to a Diverse and Inclusive Community
• 2018-2020 Institutional Diversity Action Committee (IDAC) Plan
• Bias Education Response Team & Bias Incident Protocol
• Stonehill College Policy Manual: “Harassment and Discrimination”

We also encourage you to review some of the training opportunities available offered annually, as well as local, state-wide, and national resources that may be of support to you.

Training Resources

• Bystander Intervention Training for Sexual Assault Prevention - The purpose of this program is to help prevent sexual assaults by teaching students, faculty, and staff about warning signs and giving them the tools they need to take action. For more information on this training, please email Jess Greene, Wellness Coordinator, at jtgreene@stonehill.edu.
• Conference on Diversity and Inclusion - The Conference on Diversity and Inclusion is an annual event that seeks to bring together students, faculty, staff, and community members to discuss diversity, equity, and inclusion at Stonehill College. The conference serves as a venue for sharing programs, curriculum ideas, teaching practices, student experiences, and leadership development practices that strive to create a culture of belonging at the College.
• Developing Your Toolkit: Intercultural Knowledge, Skills, and Awareness - Participants of this session will understand how one's worldview, biases, and assumptions impact relationships with others, including co-workers, students, faculty, and community stakeholders as well as learn about the benefits of demonstrating culturally competent attitudes and behaviors in an organizational setting. 
• Lead with Courage: Responding to Everyday Bias on Campus - This training session is designed to give community members knowledge, skills, and awareness to become prosocial bystanders in the Stonehill Community and beyond. Participants will learn about different types of bystanders and their actions, better understand Stonehill College's community expectations about bystander intervention, and learn techniques to become a prosocial bystander.
• Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP): This program provides concrete tools for confronting, interrupting, and preventing gender-based violence. By empowering participants through a unique bystander approach to prevention, MVP enables communities to stand up against all forms of gender-based violence and challenges participants to understand and embrace their roles as leaders when faced with these issues.
• Recognizing and Responding to Students in Distress - This program will explore various types of student distress impacting psychological wellbeing so that attendees can gain skills in recognizing these signs.  This program will provide skills around responding to and assisting students, and then connecting them to appropriate resources.  Strategies on assessing the level of urgency of student needs and asking about risk will also be provided. For more information about this session, please contact Counseling Services at (508) 565-1331.
• SafeZone Series - The SafeZone Series workshops are designed to educate the Stonehill community about the history of, differences within, and challenges faced by members of the LGBTQ+ community, both on campus and within a national context