Stop the Hate — an event designed to create a space for students to share their experiences with discrimination on campus — will be hosted by SGA on April 5.
This event will take place in Berger Hall from 4-7 p.m. There will be catering, and students will be given tote bags full of resources from the Wellness Center.
This conference-style event will begin with a speech from CU Regent Wanda James. Then, students will be randomly broken out into groups mediated by trained counselors where they can share their experiences and brainstorm solutions in a safe environment.
Senator of Education Isaiah Watkins and Senator of Military Affairs Ashley Hoff are working with other senators to host the event, and they hope that it will spark institutional change across campus.
“Being with other UCCS students and getting to know them, you realize there’s a lot more that you don’t know about them. There’s a lot that can be changed on this campus, and this is a great way to get people together and organize that change and actually be about it,” Watkins said.
Both senators ensured that the event will be open to everyone. They mentioned that there will be safe space talks and that ground rules will be set before diving into deeper topics. These discussions will be followed by decompression techniques.
“We don’t share others’ experiences outside of this group … This is a safe space, and everything that’s said in terms of the details of peoples’ lives is going to stay there, and the only thing we take out with us are the lessons that we learned,” Hoff said.
Hoff worked on Stop Racism in spring 2022 — the initial version of this event — and was inspired to build on the event and turn it into something bigger this year.
“Discrimination is such an impactful hardship that a lot of us go through in different ways, so being able to say, ‘Hey, me too, I’m not alone — what can we do or how can we take care of each other?’ is important because people need each other. You can’t do everything on your own,” Hoff said.
Watkins also noted that the event will give students the opportunity to educate themselves. “You can really learn what to do as an ally at this event, even if you don’t hold any marginalized identities,” Watkins said.
Students can learn more about Stop the Hate on Mountain Lion Connect.
Graphic provided by Isaiah Watkins.