Last fall, the City of Worcester announced plans to begin its "No Place for Hate" campaign, an initiative created by the Anti-Defamation League, one of the leading civil rights and human relations agencies in the United States. At the time, Kolt Bloxson ’06 was working for the city as a Student Programs for Urban Development (SPUD) intern, and she watched as the "No Place for Hate" campaign, which promotes inclusion and respect for people’s differences while combating hate and bigotry, was taking shape.
Intrigued, Bloxson suggested to Mable Millner, assistant dean and director of multicultural education at Holy Cross, that the College join the city in its efforts. On March 22 at 4 p.m. in the Rehm Library, Holy Cross will formally announce its collaboration with the City of Worcester. Titled "Hate: Not Here!," the anti-bias initiative will promote individual and collective responsibility for building campus community. Rev. Michael C. McFarland, S.J., president of Holy Cross, Congressman James P. McGovern, Mayor Timothy P. Murray, and Frances R. Manocchio, director of human rights for the city who initially introduced Bloxson to "No Place for Hate," will be in attendance. The event is free and open to the public.
We recently interviewed Bloxson, who is also the director of diversity for the Student Government Association, a classics and philosophy major, and member of the women’s ice hockey team, about the new plan.
When you saw the "No Place for Hate" campaign coming together, why did you become interested in implementing it at Holy Cross?
I saw the program and I thought, wow, this is something completely amazing! Something that not only benefits the entire Worcester community, but as part of the community, Holy Cross could support this effort and we could have our own mini-program, too. This is something that we needed. Since I’ve been a freshman I’ve seen different things — Break the Silence rallies, vigils, different demands for diversity discussions. But they’ve all been separate ideas, so I thought we could give it one unified, proactive push.
Have you ever seen anything at Holy Cross that this program will be able to combat?
Specifically? Yes. Just in the last year alone as SGA’s director for diversity, I’ve had reports about individual attacks and group attacks that have happened as early as the first week of school — writing on walls that target different groups and homophobic statements. They’ve all been acts of cowardice. This program will challenge that kind of intolerance and ignorance.
Here’s another example. A few years ago there was an openly gay male student and he got a lot of personal attacks, at his job at Kimball and notes left in his mailbox. The thing with him is that he came out and he was public about it — he said this has happened to me and people didn’t stand for it. People set up vigils, they had people standing outside his door. He got a lot of support and there was a lot of discussion. But at the same time, there was no forward discussion, there was no campaign behind it - just a lot of different people just saying "We support him." This program will allow unified groups to rise tall and say, "We don’t stand for this." It’s not going to happen after the fact, but it’s going to be proactive. It’s going to be put out there throughout the entire year - not just when a hate crime happens. It will encourage people to talk about diversity.
Why are you so passionate about this initiative?
"Hate: Not Here" comes from a simple desire for not merely tolerance but acceptance. Something I’ve realized recently is that tolerance isn’t enough anymore. I think it’s time we take responsibility for our actions; that we have to understand that there are issues of multiculturalism and other forms of diversity that need to be addressed. In the classroom and outside the classroom, I think these issues of diversity should be more accessible to us. This is a way for the College to be able to do that — in a positive way. A lot of things happen after negative circumstances: The Diversity Task Force, midnight vigils, Break the Silence, letters to the Crusader. Diversity is something positive. It should be just as much a part of an education as other issues. So I’m passionate about this program because issues of diversity are so much a part of life. People shouldn’t feel uncomfortable talking about these things.
Why is talking about diversity important?
Diversity covers all types of things: sex-gender issues, race issues, inter-religious issues. I think that in order for people to be successful in a global society, they must be aware of issues of diversity. They have to be aware of multiculturalism, and as college students we should be educated on this. And I haven’t seen that done sufficiently. All this stuff is on the backburner. It’s not out in the open. Let’s put it all together and make one big fist and make a huge punch and say, "Tolerance is not enough." It’s just not enough anymore. You need to be open and you need to be comfortable with issues of diversity and we need to get over the fact that diversity is "controversial." We need to get over the fact that multiculturalism is a taboo topic and we need to just discuss these things because this is life. This is what you’re going to encounter in the workforce. This is what you’re going to encounter when you go to the supermarket. This is what you encounter on a daily basis. So why are these topics so sticky and so stepped over? Let’s talk about them.
Along those same lines, what are your goals for this initiative? What would you like to see happen in say, two or three years?
I hope that we won’t be talking about diversity issues with just close friends. No, you should feel comfortable with these issues in a classroom environment. You should feel comfortable talking to them with your professor, to your coach, with your teammates. These issues are part of our daily life. They aren’t meant to be controversial. They’re only controversial because we don’t know how to talk about them. If we learn how to talk about them, then where’s the controversy? I would like to see open dialogue about certain things in a positive light.
What about your own experience with intolerance and bias?
I experience it just being a college student, by being an African American female. For example, I play ice hockey. Growing up female in a predominately white male sport, was not easy. It’s not easy for girls to begin with and then being an African American it’s even harder. When I first wanted to play at age four, they told my mother that I wasn’t going to go anywhere, not only because I was a girl but because African Americans just don’t play hockey. They said this is fun for now, but after she turns eight this isn’t something she’s going to be able to pursue and my mother said, "That’s absolutely ludicrous. My daughter will show you one day." Like I said, it’s just intolerance and ignorance. Hockey’s going to be part of my life until the day I die.
Related information:
# 'Hate: Not Here!' Press Release
Kolt Bloxson ’06 Hopes ‘Hate: Not Here’ Initiative Promotes Harmony, Encourages Dialogue
Read Time
6 Minutes
