According to the national Stop the Hate campaign, 11 percent of hate crimes occur on school or college campuses. On March 2, Anna Mroch, resident hall director for Wilgus, and Trapper Mitchell, resident hall director for Melcher Hall, gave a presentation on hate crimes for the Stop the Hate program in the Pioneer Student Center.

Since Barack Obama was elected president, hate group Web sites have received a phenomenal increase, Mitchell said. Only 5 to 15 percent of hate crimes are committed by hate groups, with the highest percentage of hate crimes being committed by groups of teenage boys. This demographic has a large base on college and high school campuses, so the Stop the Hate campaign is focusing their efforts there.

According to Wisconsin Statutes, “if a person commits a crime and intentionally selects a person, in whole or in part, because of the actors belief or perception regarding the race, religion, color, disability, sexual orientation, national origin or ancestry, the penalties for the underlying crime are enhanced,” making it a hate crime.

Mroch said there have been several incidents on campus but most have been classified as vandalism.

Mitchell said that hate crimes are generally more violent than other crimes and 60 percent of hate crime-homicides are classified as overkill. Overkill is more than four stab wounds and multiple gunshot wounds; basically the crime is still carried out even after the victim is deceased, he said.

Deirdre Dalsing, counselor at the UW-Platteville Counseling Center, attended the program and plans to use the information for “Gay, Lesbian, Bi-Sexual and Transgender Safe Zone” as training. This training is done once a semester for faculty, staff and students. Dalsing said that the session was an excellent and highly informational program.

The founding sponsor of this national Stop the Hate campaign is the Southern Poverty Law Center. Anyone wanting more information can visit their Web site at splcenter.org, where they can register for weekly e-mails with current issues and weekly intelligence reports on hate crimes.

Stop the Hate programs usually run twice a semester as three-hour training sessions. This is the first year for specialized training in one-hour sessions.

Classes, clubs or a group of friends can request a Stop the Hate program by contacting Val Wetzel in the Pioneer Involvement Center or Anna Mroch at mrocha@uwplatt.edu. The trainers can then tailor sessions to fit the groups’ needs.