Last Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025, the Bias Educational Support Team (BEST) held two town hall sessions to publicly address incidents which occurred on campus during the Fall 2024 semester.
BEST began by addressing objectives for the six-person team, outlining a focus on transparency and awareness for issues on campus, providing on-campus educational opportunities and encouraging an open dialogue between the team and students and staff.
The team reported 14 Bias Incidents during the Fall Semester. Bias Incidents are any activity against a person or property that is motivated by the offender’s bias against race, color, ethnicity, national origin, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, disability, age or religion.
Leading types of bias for the Fall semester were against religion and race, each having three reports. Bias Incidents were most common at On-campus Outdoor spaces (ex. The Quad) and Dining spaces (which includes SAGA, Tommy’s and Dugout.)
The team also held a public Q&A following the town hall, allowing audience members to give feedback and ask additional questions.
One student, an RA, asked about policies for reporting Bias Incidents. All RAs are mandated reporters, meaning they are required by law to report incidents that violate Title IX standards, but this requirement is not extended to Bias Incidents.
Dr. Rebeca Roesner clarified that while RAs are not required to report any incidents residents bring up, they can still encourage them to report incidents. Incidents can be reported anonymously and reporters can request the school not take action on them if they feel it could negatively impact them in some way.
Another member of the audience asked about how the school deals with incidents that are reported with unknown perpetrators.
Dr. Dakesa Piña said the schools focus is on supporting those affected when a perpetrator is unknown. Roesner noted that while IWU has cameras in place in some high-traffic areas of IWU, they can’t watch everywhere on campus. In the case of permanent damage (like graffiti of hate speech; an example Piña shared from last school year), Campus security and city police can pursue legal action.
The BEST team thanked audience members for attending the town hall and encouraged feedback for how the team can improve their reporting for future town halls.
Students and staff can file Bias Incident reports online under IWU’s Diversity and Inclusion resources. Reports are encouraged even if reportees don’t desire the involved parties to face repercussions. Reports still allow the BEST team to find areas of improvement for campus education materials and keep note for possible future incidents.
“Bias can occur at any point in time. It’s important for us to have clear communication with the IWU community to ensure we are combating Bias and helping those who need support,” Piña said.