Closed
After a period of 90 days with no new information, cases are considered closed. However, if new information becomes available or there are other updates those will be posted here. Individuals who believe they have been the target of bias, intolerance or discrimination may report an incident to the public incident report form (bias and intolerance) or the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action (sexual misconduct and discrimination).
Please direct any questions or concerns in regard to this bias incident to the RBIRT Manager at RBIresponse@utah.edu.
What happened
One of the Housing and Residential Education (HRE) residence halls, has an open shared space where there is a bulletin board with a world map where residents may place a pin to indicate where they are from. On January 13, 2023, several Resident Assistants (RAs) who were conducting rounds found a small note which read “Allahu Akbar >:(”, pinned to Saudi Arabia on the map. Although Allahu Akbar is a phrase meaning ‘God is most great,’ used by Muslims in prayers and as a general declaration of faith or thanksgiving, because the inclusion of the emoticon “>:(“, which is negative in nature and means “angry”, is makes this a bias incident because of the negative connotation. The RAs documented the content and removed the note.
What is being done
The incident has been reported to the university’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action (OEO/AA the Housing and Residential Education and Office of the Dean of Students Conduct teams, the Racist and Bias Incident Response Team, and the University of Utah Police Department.
If, through the course of some review or investigation (by the OEO/AA or other appropriate investigative body), the individuals involved are confirmed to have engaged in conduct violating university policy, the Office of the Dean of Students and/or Housing and Residential Education or other appropriate leader, will act within university policy designed to hold the individual(s) accountable and, if appropriate, provide education about the harm caused to the community by this type of behavior – even in the absence of a finding of policy violation.
What to do
Be vigilant and speak up. Stopping this type of behavior takes collective action, and bystander intervention efforts are one way of combatting such conduct that causes real harm. To learn more about how to incorporate bystander intervention into your toolkit, check out the information here: https://wellness.utah.edu/workshops-training/#bystander.
If you are interested in learning more about the variety of resources the U offers to support diversity and inclusion, please visit the Office of the Dean of Students in the Union Building, Room 270, deanofstudents@utah.edu, 801-581-7066, or Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in the Park Building, Room 208, or https://diversity.utah.edu/our-team/. To make a report of a racist or bias incident, visit the public reporting form.
The U is committed to equity, diversity and inclusion
Acts like this offend people of faith and cause harm to students’ and other community members’ sense of belonging. We are still striving to ensure that all our staff, students, trainees, faculty and other community members are able to find a place of safety and belonging as a part of our campus community, especially in our residence halls, and have the space to explore, express and celebrate their various identities.
We will continue to name the biased acts, investigate, provide education, and when appropriate, hold the perpetrators of these harmful acts accountable when they are identified. Additionally, we will continue efforts that uplift and celebrate our communities and enhance a sense of belonging on our campus.