Bias Incident Response Team Amplifies SMC Voices

The number of bias incidents at SMC is on the decline, with 10 bias incidents and one hate crime reported in 2017–18 versus 25 bias incidents and one hate crime in 2016–17. Still, the Bias Incident Response Team’s (BIRT) innovative responses are on the incline.

Last academic year, members of BIRT, along with faculty and staff from across campus, participated in a three-day restorative justice training, exploring the themes of healing, community building, and justice, among others, through intentional dialogue. With the help of CCIE and a number of on-campus sponsors, Desiree Anderson, PhD, director of the Intercultural Center brought the training to campus.

“I wanted to provide another potential tool for addressing incidents of bias,” Anderson said. “I also want us (as a community) to think about building and repairing relationships, even if it’s through small changes.” 

Tom Muyanga-Mukasa ’20 was among the first students to take advantage of a restorative circle process after experiencing a bias incident, during which he felt he was racially profiled by members of the Campus Safety Department. Muyanga-Mukasa said that although the process, which involved eight preconferences, was intensive and time-consuming, it was worth it.

“I come from a culture where it is a common practice to sit in a circle of reconciliation, where we truly believe in the outcomes of mediation. I believe in systems and that using them gives us the capacity to create change,” Muyanga-Mukasa noted. “That said, I wanted to make sure that this circle was more than window dressing. After eight preconferences at the WRC [Center for Women & Gender Equity, previously known as the Women’s Resource Center], a place for me that epitomizes the idea of amplifying voices of minorities, I felt ready.”

Muyanga-Mukasa then sat in a circle with staff, administrators, and friends from across campus to talk through the incident and identify steps for moving forward and healing.

“I was appreciative that everyone came,” Muyanga-Mukasa said. “The fact that everyone showed up and was respectful in the conversation meant a lot.”

Campus Safety Chief Adan Tejada said his staff found the experience to be equally fruitful in building bridges of understanding. “The staff involved were eager to participate and felt it was an excellent experience,” Tejada said.

Dean of Students Evette Castillo Clark was among those in Muyanga-Mukasa’s circle.

“I learned that no matter what you do or where you are or what position you hold, everyone experiences and interprets the campus and its community members in unique ways,” Clark said. “I learned that empathy is a skill. It takes nurturing and practice. It manifests in the circle through active listening, vulnerability, humbleness, and patience.”

A bias incident is an act (that does not rise to the level of a hate crime) motivated by race, gender, sex, sexual orientation, ability, ethnicity, nationality, or religion. After a report is filed, it goes to a case team and is reviewed to see if it meets the criteria of a bias incident. While even the existence of the BIRT causes uneasiness for some, Clark asked people to remember its intent and purpose. “BIRT is a tool for people at SMC to be heard. The reporting feature is present in our community as a means to support the reporter, understand experiences, identify and address patterns in hopes that we can educate our community and be the inclusive place we strive to be.”

In its ongoing effort to improve, BIRT will collect extra data on reports that will give the team a better pulse of campus climate, microaggressions, and trends. Reporters will be able to indicate which parts of their protected identities (race, gender, sex, sexual orientation, ability, ethnicity, nationality, or religion) caused them to feel marginalized, and then will have an opportunity to expand on it. “This will allow us to be even more effective in identifying trends and campus needs,” Clark said. “As co-chairs, KSOE Counseling Professor Gloria Sosa and I are always open to feedback, questions, and concerns.”