Battling hate: Rowan hosts anti-bias crime conference with N.J. Attorney General

In recent years, several incidents at Rowan University raised questions about how the law applies to crimes and incidents related to bias against people of protected classes including race, religion and sexual orientation.

There is no place for hate at Rowan University, or anywhere else, and as part of an ongoing effort to help stamp out hateful speech, incidents and actions, the Division of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion hosted New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin for a conference Feb. 7.

Platkin explained that hateful speech, actions and offenses, which state law defines as bias incidents and crimes, have increased in recent years across America, inflamed by coarse political extremism and the echo chambers of social media.

“It is a difficult time in the state and in the U.S.,” Platkin said, recalling the recent mass shootings in California, the slaying of Tyre Nichols at the hands of police in Memphis and, in New Jersey, a possible bias incident outside an Asbury Park church and the attempted firebombing of a Bloomfield synagogue.

Platkin said New Jersey law enforcement officials fight bias every day, charging those who commit such crimes one degree higher – meaning they face much harsher sentences upon conviction – than they would have been had they just been charged with the underlying crime.

He explained that individuals charged with committing a crime against individuals in any of 20 protected classes in N.J. may face additional bias crime charges. Those protected classes include race, creed, color, national origin, nationality, ancestry, age, sex (including pregnancy), familial status, marital/civil union status, religion, domestic partnership status, affectional or sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, atypical hereditary cellular or blood trait, genetic information, liability for military service, and mental or physical disability.

“New Jersey residents should never be subject to acts of discrimination or hate because of where they are from, what they look like, whom they love or how they worship,” said Platkin, the state’s top law enforcement officer.

The conference and roundtable discussion, which was co-sponsored by the Attorney General's Office, the Rowan chapter of the NAACP and Rowan University’s Black Student Union, included comments from Senior Vice President for DEI Monika Williams Shealey, Provost Tony Lowman, and Rowan President Ali Houshmand.

Houshmand, who emigrated to the United Kingdom from Iran to attend college, recalled an attack on himself and a friend one evening as they left a pub in which he lost a tooth and his jaw was broken, an attack based purely on bias.

Haunted by that experience, Houshmand said he’s committed to ensuring that no Rowan student, faculty or staff member ever experiences anything like it.

“I hate bias,” Houshmand said. “I absolutely hate it.”

Platkin and his staff said any suspected bias incidents (including verbal assaults) or crimes, whether against oneself or witnessed, should be reported to local police or directly to his office and they will be investigated.

Don’t wait: Report hate

Any students or employees who experience or witness bias incidents or crimes may report them through Rowan’s Office of Student Equity and Compliance or by calling (856) 256-5830.

For emergencies, always call Rowan University’s Department of Public Safety at (856) 256-4922 or dial 911.

Incidents may also be reported online to the New Jersey Attorney General’s Division of Criminal Justice Bias Crimes Unit, by calling 609-984-6500 or by dialing a toll-free tip line, 1-800-277-BIAS (2427).