By Jesse Dolojan, Staff Writer

Xavier University’s Office of Institutional Diversity and Inclusion (OIDI) is creating an Anti-Hate and Inclusion Task Force, predicting work to begin in November. The task force’s primary goal will be to assess bias reports and to find ways to address hate on campus.  

The Ohio State Senate passed the Campus Act on June 26, which mandates Ohio universities to adopt new policies to address racial and ethnic harassment. The Campus Act was inspired by the increase in hate crimes against the Jewish community, with a recorded 700% increase of antisemitic crimes on college campuses compared to October 2023, according to NEA Today.  

Vice President of Xavier’s OIDI Dr. Ivy Banks noted the task force is still in development. The OIDI has sent out an application to 20 faculty members who have expressed an interest in being a part of the task force.

Banks emphasized her desire to make sure that the task force was a collective effort with input from the Xavier community. 

“We have certain parameters that we have to meet according to the Campus Act, but we want to make sure that this is something that’s uniquely Xavier, and to do that I have to hear from the members that will make up this committee,” Banks said. “I want to hear from them about what would be helpful for training around the campus.” 

Senior marketing major Christopher Sumo serves as the treasurer for Minorities in Business, as well as treasurer and social media personnel for the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. Sumo believes that for the group to be effective, they must make an effort to connect with students.  

He wants the task force to make an effort to interact with students through engaging students in conversations. Sumo believes that through regular interaction with students, the task force will gain a stronger understanding of students and how to reach out to them. 

“I would say a big way is just literally having a conversation, having those small group conversations or surveys, they bring people together in a group and offer them like a free meal, or something like that,” Sumo said. “In exchange, they actually get some pure insight in terms of what they think is going on on campus and how they’re affected, and what they could do to benefit the students of color’s needs on campus.”

Sumo emphasized that, especially in scenarios where there is a hate-based crime, it is more important than ever to reach out to students.

“Attack it while it’s hot and actually go to the people who are in trouble and get their point of view from it instead of making that decision from up top of the chain, thinking that it’ll do good for them,” Sumo said.  

The OIDI will release a Campus Climate Survey on Sept. 30 to inform the OIDI and the task force on faculty and students’ efforts to navigate diversity, equity and inclusion on Xavier’s campus. The task force will follow up by launching an anti-hate training course in January with data gathered from survey.  

“I’m glad that the state of Ohio moved in this direction and is requiring this for all institutions because everyone should be able to experience campus and be their authentic self. They should be valued and respected for who they are,” Banks said.