Document Type

Press Release

Publication Date

4-21-2004

Abstract

In an effort to raise awareness to the ongoing discrimination and hatred directed toward specific individuals and social groups, the Lawrence University Office of Multicultural Affairs presents “Field of Flags: Stop the Hate” Tuesday, April 27.

From 8 a.m. – 8 p.m., nearly 2,000 miniature flags, symbolizing the 11 individuals who were killed in 2002 as a result of hate crimes and the more than 9,200 others in the United States that year who were victims of reported hate crimes, will be displayed on the campus green on the southeast corner of College and Lawe streets.

The “Field of Flag” project aims to focus attention on the five different populations that are subjected to hate crimes according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Based on the factors of race, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation and disability, each of those populations will be represented by a specific colored flag in the display. Each flag will represent five victims of a hate crime committed against that particular group in the United States in 2002.

“The ‘Field of Flags: Stop the Hate’ project is a visual reminder of the hate and bias crimes that still exists in our country,” said Elizabeth Matelski, Lawrence Diversity Center programs coordinator. “According to federal statistics, every year more than half a million college students are targets of bias-driven slurs or physical assaults. By not speaking out against such hate crimes, we become part of the problem. The Office of Multicultural Affairs has designed this project to be part of the solution.”

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