Towson students ready to say #NotatTU
SGA hosts rally for new initiative to end hate/bias incidents on Towson University's campus.
Students were lined up well past the second floor University Union doors and the event
wasn’t even five minutes old. They had turned out for Thursday afternoon’s #NotAtTU
rally, an event organized by the Student Government Association (SGA) in response to concerns raised this semester about hate/bias incidents on campus and
how those incidents are reported to, and handled by, the administration.
Created through a partnership between SGA, the Division of Student Affairs, and the Division of University Marketing and Communications, #NotAtTU is centered around creating an inclusive, anti-racist, and hate-free campus
climate. It will also work to increase transparency and take immediate action to address
the hate/bias reporting process.
Besides Thursday’s rally, the campaign includes social media ads, posters, signs,
banners, and a new website.
“Our goal is that everywhere you go on campus,” said SGA president Kurt Anderson ’16,
“you’ll be reminded of our institutional commitment to condemn hate speech or racist
behavior directed at any member of our community, and to encourage people to report
it if they see it.”
The newly launched #NotAtTU website includes information on precisely how to report
hate/bias incidents, the definition of a hate crime and a bias incident, and an explanation
of how such incidents are investigated by TUPD and/or the Division of Student Affairs.
It also features the “What’s Your Stand?” video that was produced in 2014 and includes
Anderson and fellow graduating seniors Samantha Figueroa and Jamal Washington.
Anderson, Washington, and numerous other SGA leaders were working hard at Thursday
afternoon’s rally, handing out black-and-gold #NotAtTU t-shirts and buttons, along
with cookies, pink lemonade, brownies, and Rita’s Italian ice. The long line of
students that formed shortly before the noon kick-off didn’t dissipate until close
to 12:30 p.m. as students headed off to class, only to be replaced by others making
their way to-and-from classes.
Taking a break from handing out buttons and t-shirts, the always energetic SGA president
said he was encouraged to see such a diverse group of students attending the rally
and supporting the cause.
“It’s no longer good enough to be diverse, inclusive and accepting,” Anderson emphasized.
“We must be anti-racist, anti-bigotry, and anti-hate.”