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To recognize and draw attention to those who have suffered from discrimination, Rainbow Connection is hosting the first ever Hate Crime Awareness Week. Junior Adam Cebulski, president of Rainbow Connection, said he thinks the Loyola community needs a "wake-up call" to incidents and words that alienate minority groups.
The week, which began with a concert Monday, April 11, seeks to draw attention to hate crimes and the effect they have on communities.
Cebulski decided to center the event around today's Day of Silence.
"This Wednesday ... is the Day of Silence, which is a nationally recognized student movement to promote awareness of hate crimes against LGBTQ individuals," Cebulski said. "The point of the Day of Silence is to remain silent. Their silence represents the silence [of] those who have fallen to violent discrimination and hate crimes ... [because] I think Loyola students are relatively oblivious to hate crimes."
Cebulski has reason to be concerned about hate crimes. Since 1992 the FBI began gathering statistics on hate crimes, the number of incidents has increased. In 2003, the FBI has concluded that more than 8,000 hate crimes were committed.
These include only the hate crimes that were reported to the police; undoubtedly many go unreported. The FBI's data only includes data on hate crimes gathered from those law enforcement agencies that submitted data; only 82.8 percent of the population is represented by this data.
Racial bias constituted the motivation for the overwhelming majority of hate crimes - approximately 53 percent of these incidents. Roughly 16 percent of the incidents were classified as religious or sexual orientation bias.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer individuals are not the only ones facing discrimination. In the fall, the Phoenix reported a fight between students during which racial slurs allegedly were uttered.
"Most people think a hate crime is simply killing someone [because of a] bias, but that is not true," Cebulski said. "Every time someone rips down a poster from a group based on sexual orientation, ethnicity, etc., they just committed a hate crime. It is any action that is violent --- physically, verbally or mentally -that is based on discrimination."
In general, discriminatory actions can alienate people and have drastic negative effects on them, Cebulski said. For example, when people use the phrase "That's gay" to describe something, Cebulski feels they are equating the word "gay" with "stupid or some other negative connotation."
"Think about what that says to someone who is not 'out' - it tells them to stay in the closet and keep their mouth shut because they're a bad thing," Cebulski said. "It is horrible that so many people have to go through this and I think people need to be aware that this happens every day. Loyola needs a wake-up call."
Thus, Cebulski decided to organize Hate Crime Awareness Week with the hope that it would become an annual event. The week began with a concert by Sacha Sacket in Zipoli's on Monday, April 11, which freshman Michael Sobczak attended.
With a piano and microphone, Sacket sang songs he authored that deal with his childhood. He readily admitted that most of the songs he writes are not optimistic. As an openly gay artist, Sacket said he feels it is important to support high school and college organizations that address sexual orientation.
"I think [growing up, being a homosexual] is one of the things that's overlooked is the the growing-up process," Sacket said. "There's still a lot of shame that I feel people don't talk about. Shame that people have growing up and I hope that my music [and support] can address this [issue]."
Sacket contacted Cebulski to play at Loyola. In the next week, he has five shows in the Chicagoland area at college campuses.
"People need to see [minority group members] overcoming discrimination and achieving their dreams," Cebulski said. "[Sacket] is a living example of this. It is so hard to be gay in the entertainment industry, but [he] is working 24/7 to make that happen for himself and to inspire other people."
Sobczak thought the week and the events were important to a diverse campus like Loyola's.
"I think it's really great that [LU] is recognizing all the diverse groups of students on campus," Sobczak said. "I like it because I'm a minority. You wouldn't find an event like this on a lot of smaller schools."
Last night, 11 students performed "The Laramie Project" in Finnegan Auditorium. The play addresses the attitudes of the people in Laramie, Wyo., where Matthew Shepard was killed in 1998 because he was homosexual.
"The play deals with this small western town's loss of innocence following the 1998 hate murder of college student Matthew Shepard," sophomore Max Bever, public relations chair for Rainbow Connection and director of the play, said. "By exploring the town they find that everyone carries a small bit of the truth to how and why something like this could happen."
Sophomore Dan Thelen, an actor in the play, said he understands the message of the play. He said he grew up in a town not too far from Laramie. While some of the people in Laramie clearly had prejudices, Thelen said the atmosphere at Loyola encourages understanding.
"I think overall I would say Loyola teaches people to see the diversity of the human experience," Thelen said. "While I've been here I've already learned so much about the injustices many people face around the world based on discrimination and hatred."
Freshman Lillie Pavone was inspired to perform in the show after she first saw the play performed in high school. She said she was surprised by its intensity.
"I hope that audience members will get the feeling I got when I first saw it performed," Pavone said. "I hope that people will talk to it about their friends. I want people to understand the magnitude with which some people hate and feel obligated to change that attitude."
The play will be performed again on Thursday, April 14 at 7 p.m. in Finnegan Auditorium. Today, Rainbow Connection will show the film "Out in the Cold" in Zipoli's at 7 p.m. At all events, Rainbow Connection will be collecting donations to be given to the Matthew Shepard Foundation.
Through events recognizing and celebrating diversity, Cebulski hopes that the students will recognize the need to be accepting.
"If people see what's going on [when hate crimes occur], then they have more of a chance of stopping it from happening," Cebulski said. "Nobody is expecting people to stop a beating single-handed, but at least call for help, or tell someone it is inappropriate when they say 'That's gay.' Education is the best way to prevention."
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