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Read on for an important letter from Assistant Vice Chancellor/Dean of Students Katya Armistead and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Margaret Klawunn regarding the process for reporting bias incidents and a resource guide on how to handle doxing/online harassment.
A letter from Assistant Vice Chancellor/Dean of Students Katya Armistead and Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Margaret Klawunn:
Dear UCSB Student,
As we start the spring quarter, we want to remind all members of the UC Santa Barbara community of our expectations for how we treat each other. We are witnessing disturbing and offensive national trends, including concerning instances of anti-Black racism, anti-Semitism, and doxing or online harassment, and incidents of this nature are occurring in our community and on our campus as well. Incidents of intolerance do not reflect the values of UC Santa Barbara. We want to take this opportunity to remind everyone of our Principles of Community, particularly that we seek to affirm the intrinsic dignity in each of us, celebrate our differences, and recognize and honor diversity as vital to the excellence of our University.
As these recent incidents of bias indicate, our values are not always demonstrated and upheld by members of our community. When this occurs, UC Santa Barbara wants to know. If you believe you have experienced or observed an incident of bias, please file a report using our Bias Incident Reporting System. Incidents can be reported anonymously if needed, and the system allows you to indicate whether or not you would like the University to contact you about the incident. We would like to encourage that all members of our community make use of this system, as it allows us to investigate and respond to incidents. In cases where a response is not desired or possible, it allows us to assess our campus climate and identify where further work remains to be done to create an inclusive environment.
Many of our campus departments recently received a "Bias Free UCSB" poster. These posters provide the website used to file a Bias Incident Report, as well as a list of campus resources for those who experience or observe bias. We ask that our campus offices post these in a prominent location, and if additional posters are needed, please email equity@sa.ucsb.edu. A copy of the poster is attached along with a resource guide on doxing and online harassment.
UC Santa Barbara is one of the top research universities in the world. Our academic excellence and our diverse community complement each other. We encourage each of our campus community members to engage in dialogue about diversity and inclusion, which can only serve to improve our campus climate and allow us to continue to be a leading educational institution.
Sincerely,
Katya Armistead, Assistant Vice Chancellor/Dean of Students
Margaret Klawunn, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs