Schools from across Connecticut gathered to hear directly from top public safety officials to help prevent hate on college campuses.
Schools from across Connecticut gathered to hear directly from top public safety officials to help prevent hate on college campuses.
It comes amid rising concerns around the country and right here.
“Students are definitely concerned and worried,” Jessica Baden of the UConn Hillel student board said.
Baden said recently they’ve gotten a stream of hateful messages especially online.
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After several Muslim student groups at UConn reported receiving threatening voicemails and emails last week, another concerning call was just received.
“The community is feeling more and more unsafe as the days go by, specifically, those that are visibly like our sisters who wear hijab on campus,” Muhammad Elsabbal of the UConn Muslim Student Association said.
As tensions rose around the country following the Hamas attack on Israel, Governor Lamont had called for a campus security meeting, which took place on Thursday.
“Somebody from our Hate Crimes Unit just giving us what we can do to lower the temperature and then prevent what could be hate speech and sometimes hate speech turns into hate crimes,” Gov. Ned Lamont said.
At the State Armory, people representing dozens of colleges and organizations gathered to talk about ways to prevent hate on campus. They shared ideas and learned about resources available on the state and federal level.
“I think it's really important that when those incidents do happen, when we have hate speech and we do have symbols of hate that institutions reply and reply strongly, immediately,” Ronnell Higgins, Public Safety interim commissioner, said.
Both UConn and CCSU condemned the hateful acts at their respective schools.
Students say they appreciate the support, including from the statewide effort, in this fight.
“We need help. We can't do this alone,” Baden said.
The UConn Muslim student group said another thing that would help them and others feel safe is if school and state leaders showed greater support for Palestinians.
