Chaffey College Faculty Senate Responds to Hate Crime
By: Sandra Slattery & Mikayla Lewis
Concluding a moving and well-attended meeting, the Chaffey College Faculty Senate motioned and approved a series of resolutions in response to hate crimes recently perpetrated during a Hip Hop Studies Summit. The Hip-Hop Studies Summit is an annual event coordinated by several Chaffey College faculty members.
On Feb. 18, several attackers gained access to the Zoom meeting while a guest was speaking. The attackers managed to lock out the meeting host and terrorized the chat and video with graphic images vandalizing the speaker and the video stream. They yelled violent racial slurs and profanity targeted at the guest speakers and the event coordinators.
On Feb. 23, the Faculty Senate opened up the meeting for public comment to discuss the incursion. A video of part of the gruesome and graphic attack was played as well. Several faculty members voiced their disgust and horror at the attack and noted that the event was much worse than the image conjured in a description of “Zoom bombing.” Several at the meeting were visibly shaken by the horrific imagery, and a few attendants turned off their videos to wipe tears away.
Tara Johnson, a business professor and one of the targets of the crime, choked back tears while expressing the sentiment that the summit speakers and guests were not victims, but rather victimized by hatred and expressed devastation at the violence that she endured.
Emily Koenig emotionally read aloud a letter during the meeting which graphically expanded upon the details of the cybercrime to include "images of nooses, bombs, and of a hip-hop appropriated Osama Bin Laden... bombard[ing] the screen".
Koenig continued, saying that she could not move her mouse for over 60 seconds as the attackers typed "YOU'VE BEEN HACKED" across the top of her screen in a large banner. Koenig described the attackers as "technically adept criminals who launched a coordinated attack ... that was fueled by racism and white supremacy."
Ms. Koenig and several other members of faculty decried the lack of swift and decisive action from Chaffey College and the administration and voiced concern that the impassioned resolution would not be met with equally motivated action. Members also noted feeling belittled by an e-mail sent to coordinators and faculty suggesting that improper adherence to cyber safety guidelines was to blame for the attacks. Currently, there is no grief counseling being offered by the college in response to the traumatic events.
Faculty at the meeting felt the urgency for immediate response to this attack, and quickly motioned to pass an urgent resolution for action. Some of the points of the resolution including addressing security issues that may have opened a gateway to the attack and a task force to establish firm protocols on how to both report and respond to hate crimes on Chaffey College campuses. The resolution passed with a unanimous vote.
Alisha Rosas, Interim Vice President of Student Services, noted that an investigation is currently pending with campus police, FBI, and Title 5 liaisons. President/Superintendent Dr. Henry Shannon quickly pushed out a campus-wide letter to the Chaffey College community after the meeting, detailing the attack and the response and condemning the offensive and disruptive behavior.
Details of the resolution passed at the senate meeting are as follows:
Whereas the Chaffey College Faculty Senate supports the statement below read into public comments during the Feb. 23, 2021 Faculty Senate meeting; be it resolved that . . .
1. A follow-up statement shall be distributed to the Chaffey community (including the public) acknowledging these events as an organized hate crime, describing how the attack meet the criteria of a hate crime, and taking a stand that Chaffey will have zero tolerance for racist attacks of this nature within the week of Feb. 22-26, 2021.
2. The district shall demand further investigation of this matter, beyond Campus Police, to include local police precincts and FBI involvement by Friday, Feb. 26, 2021.
3. ITS, Information Technology Services, shall investigate and address the security issues on faculty devices and support the financial costs of repairs and/or replacement equipment by Monday, March 1, 2021.
4. A campus wide task force, including those faculty directly involved in this incident, shall be instituted by March 2, 2021 to establish firm protocols on how to both report and respond to hate crimes on our campus moving forward. These protocols should include a plan for providing trauma counseling to students, faculty, and staff affected by the attack.
5. Follow-up training shall be provided for all faculty, staff, and administrators on how to navigate Zoom-bombings and/or coordinated cyberattacks, in order to safeguard future Chaffey events before the end of the Spring 2021 semester.
For reference:
Find out more about hate crimes in California to determine if you have been victimized by a hate crime.
Currently enrolled Chaffey College students have access to free medical and mental health care. Visit the Chaffey College website to find out more.