UCSB Eucalyptus Receives Grant for LGBTQ Hate Crime Prevention Training

The project’s goal is to reduce hate crime and incidents on the university campus and in Isla Vista, a community located immediately adjacent to the campus. During 2013, student peer interns will lead active bystander intervention workshops for the LGBTQ community and its allies. Eucalyptus’ purpose is promoting the welfare of its constituent communities: students, staff, and faculty members.

Unfortunately, hate incidents are common occurrences on college campuses around the nation. UC Santa Barbara is one of just 28 U.S. universities –– out of a total of 326 participating campuses –– to be rated a “five-star school” in an ongoing assessment of LGBT-friendliness by the national nonprofit Campus Pride. But even with this distinction, the UC Santa Barbara campus is not immune to instances of hate. Over the last two years, several reported hate crimes or incidents towards LGBTQ students, staff, and faculty members have occurred on campus or in Isla Vista. In response to these incidents and crimes, Eucalyptus sought to develop hate crime awareness and the “Intervening as an Ally” resources for students who live on campus and in Isla Vista.

“Intervening as an Ally” will use the active bystander intervention training curriculum developed for by two UC Santa Barbara departments, the Resource Center for Sexual & Gender Diversity and the Office of Judicial Affairs, to thoroughly train peer-to-peer student facilitators to deliver educational workshops for LGBTQ people and their allies. Students will learn tools to recognize hate crimes or incidents, how to best intervene, and what resources are available after the incident. The workshops will address the issues of violence, homophobia, transphobia, and heterosexism that directly affect the safety and welcoming climate of the campus and Isla Vista; the student facilitators will focus on collaborating with the campus residence halls and the Greek community.

According to Dr. Joshua Moon Johnson, co-chair of Eucalyptus and director of the Resource Center for Sexual & Gender Diversity, “Peer-to-peer education is a proven method to reach students and UCSB has outstanding student leaders who are qualified to educate each other. We are excited to partner with the Fund for Santa Barbara in order to create a safer UCSB and Isla Vista community.”

Eucalyptus believes the “Intervening as an Ally” project will gain much momentum during the Fund for Santa Barbara’s grant award cycle in 2013 and plans to continue the project for several more years.

Contact: Dr. Joshua Moon Johnson at joshua.moonjohnson@sa.ucsb.edu; telephone 805-893-5847.