by Jeremy Hunt
Daily Lobo
UNM Staff Council does not support the creation of an office to deal with hate crimes at the University, according to a report from the organization.
"With the appointment of Interim Vice President for Institutional Diversity Dr. Rita Martinez-Purson, it is our opinion that it is her role to educate and process issues of hate," the report states.
Vanessa Shields, Staff Council president, presented the report at Tuesday's Board of Regents
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meeting.
A task force formed by former Provost Reed Dasenbrock recommended in January that the University set up an office to address bigotry on campus.
The Hate Crimes Task Force asked for an annual budget of about $250,000 to create the Campus Climate Office, which would deal with issues such as racism, sexual harassment and gender discrimination.
The budget includes a $90,000 salary for a director.
The report from Staff Council stated the office would be redundant with the diversity office that was established this year.
"A separate office of Campus Climate, with full staffing as suggested in the (Hate Crimes Task Force) report, is not necessary," the report states. "Our opinion is that it is well within the purview of the institutional diversity department's goal to 'create a campus culture of civility.'"
GPSA President Joseph Garcia was a member of the task force that recommended the office.
Garcia said he was disappointed by the council's report but glad there is discussion about how to address hate crime issues.
"Any dialogue is better than no dialogue," he said. "Most people are afraid to talk about it."
Whether the University establishes the office will depend on President David Schmidly, said Jamie Koch, president of the
regents.
"We take our leadership role from our president," he said. "He's been president of Oklahoma State University and Texas Tech. He's well familiar with these kinds of issues."
Schmidly said he is reviewing the task force's recommendations with his executive
administration.
He said the administration would make a decision on the recommendations as quickly as
possible.
"We'll definitely implement some of it," he said. "It normally takes a month, at least, to get anything implemented."
The recommendations may be implemented through the diversity office, he said.
"That was one of the considerations that was discussed," he said. "We just haven't reached any final decisions on it."
A major concern for the administration is reports from Indian students who say they were
victims of hate crimes, he said.
The India Student Association told police Monday more than 20 Indian students were assaulted on and around campus in the last four months.
UNM Police are investigating the incidents as hate crimes, said Lt. Pat Davis, spokesman for the department.
Garcia said no office would be able to stop hate crimes from happening because it is part of a large problem in society.
"Whether it is the tolerance office or the Office of Institutional Diversity, it's going to be watered down," he said. "It's going to be used to keep whatever the established power structure is in
power."
