University of California Plans Islamophobia Forum
The University of California, Riverside, professors and students are holding a forum to counter Islamophobia, where they will discuss recent anti-Muslim vandalism on campus.
The University of California, Riverside, professors and students are holding a forum to counter Islamophobia, where they will discuss recent anti-Muslim vandalism on campus.
Sometime during spring break, vandals defaced photos of women students and tore down an image of a Palestinian flag in the Ethnic Studies Department and graduate student offices.
The forum was dubbed, ‘Countering Islamophobia: Anti-racist responses to violence on campus’.
Campus police are investigating the vandalism incidents as possible hate crimes, as of Thursday, April 7, the investigation was ongoing, said UCR Assistant Vice Chancellor for Strategic Communications James Grant.
The UC Riverside Media and Cultural Studies Department Facebook Page released a statement Thursday announcing the forum.
“Recent incidents of vandalism on UCR’s campus, which targeted Arab professors and students, and women faculty and students of color, are part of a larger pattern of attacks of this nature that have been occurring with increasing frequency nationwide,” the statement read.
The Departments of Creative Writing, English, Ethnic Studies, Gender and Sexuality Studies, Media and Cultural Studies, and Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies are co-sponsoring the event, which is part of a series on Islamophobia.
