By Holliday Woodard  

Only one professor showed up to University of Maryland’s Stop the Hate: Anti-bias Training over Zoom on Oct. 26, a program held for faculty to improve their classroom environment. 

Stop the Hate “provides faculty the opportunity to practice bias response with BISS team members, engendering trust as we navigate complex scenarios together,” said Program Manager of Bias Incident Support Services (BISS) and host of the training session Brian Medina (ze / hir / hirs). 

The BISS hosts these sessions 4-6 times per semester. Last fall there were around 80-100 attendees and last spring there were 30-40, Medina said. This fall, that number dropped down to one attendee.  

The Office of Diversity and Inclusion has a set vision for the campus that requires the accountability of the students and faculty. 

According to Medina, the BISS created anti-bias training in response to the murder of Lieutenant Richard Collins III on May 20, 2017. In a racially motivated hate crime, a former University of Maryland student killed Collins on the College Park campus. Now, the University of Maryland implements prevention policies to create a more accepting campus.  

In the training, Medina gave examples of different biases and covered how they can be either unintentional or purposeful. More purposeful discrimination develops into hate speech which can rise to the level of criminal activity, Medina said. In this case, the UMPD would take over.  

In 2018, the University of Maryland created the Bias Dashboard, which shows reported incidents of antisemitism, racism, and prejudice against LGBTQIA+ members. The majority of incidents reported were connected to online bias and hate targeting race. Last year, almost 50% of reports were due to racial hate and 54% of incidents were online. 

The BISS has documented recurring trends in the bias reports for the past two years, through the 2021-2022 BISS Annual Report, which analyzes each year’s trends and how the university responded to the incidents.  

“While we still have a high number of reports related to anti-Black and anti-Asian racism, we have also received reports about people targeting LGBTQIA+ folks, Jewish community members, and those of varying abilities,” Medina said. 

The Director of the Dance Performance and Scholarship School, Maura Keefe, was the professor who attended. The training walked Keefe through scenarios in a classroom and in meetings. She then had to gauge how she would react and feel in each situation. This interactive part of the training was requested last year by the faculty, Medina said.        

Because Keefe was the only faculty member in attendance, she made it her responsibility to share the resources she received. 

“I have already shared the ‘What Happens To a Bias Report’ video with the academic advisors for both graduate and undergraduate students, and the chair of TDPS’s Anti-Racism Committee because I have heard student concerns about that question,” Keefe said. 

The habit of training and re-training is essential to ensure that the education is up to the University of Maryland standards, striving for campus-wide diversity and inclusivity, Medina said. Additionally, the faculty must be aware of the available workshops and resources at the University of Maryland and the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, ze said.  

“Faculty are being reached outside these live sessions through our outreach efforts and we often are doing one-on-one coaching and departmental consultations,” said BISS Director Dr. Van Bailey. “ Additionally, we are working with faculty affairs to get the word out on department-specific LISTSERVs and continue to welcome partnership in marketing our training and resources.” 

The purpose of the BISS is to be available for any person, faculty, or student experiencing identity trauma, Medina said. 

“You can report anonymously through our form or email, and we honor your privacy and decisions for what you want to see moving forward,” Medina said. “ Ultimately, we are here to center those harmed by bias and support your long-term healing.”  

Medina had some advice for the professors who could not attend, but are struggling to assist a student through a bias incident: “Start with humanizing the student’s experience, actively listening and affirming them. The fact that they trusted you enough to share their painful lived experience means that you should respond with empathy. We could all benefit from radical compassion and kindness after experiencing trauma.” 

Featured Image: The Stop the Hate: Anti-bias Training logo. Image courtesy of Brian Medina.