“People think, ‘Oh, you’re so fearless.’ And I’m like, ‘No, I’m fearful,'” said Sonja Bock, a graduate student of sociology at the University of Northern Iowa.

Bock was one of eight panelists to speak at the Insights for Effectiveness program Tuesday. The program, which was titled, “Call to Action: a more inclusive Campus,” focused on bias-related incidents on the UNI campus and in Cedar Falls.

Panelists shared stories of bias and discrimination they said they’ve encountered in recent years. They spoke of small incidents from the casual uttering of hurtful phrases like “Hey fag, what’s up?” to more serious incidents like the physical assault of a student last Halloween.

Mark Rowe, representative of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender community, talked about a recent incident where two students reported observing a faculty member washing off GLBT chalkings around campus that promoted PRIDE week.

“In spite of this being upsetting to these students and all of the UNI PROUD students as they start their week, which is meant to be educational and celebratory, I am proud to say that the students got together yesterday and re-chalked everywhere on campus,” Rowe said.

Rowe continued by talking about the effects of language on our perception of others.

“In my violence prevention world, there is sound evidence showing that language, jokes, etc. feed a culture of perception and acceptance,” he said. “It’s like a continuum: leading from language and jokes to bias discrimination, leading to harassment leading to violence leading to murder, in some cases.”

Rowe and several other panelists brought up articles printed in the Northern Iowan. They pointed to several articles – including articles about the Ku Klux Klan and the Dalai Lama and an opinion article titled “The real power of prayer” – as spreading misleading and hurtful information, along with a bad image of UNI.

“You’re telling me we can print this,” said student Ramon Cantu, holding up a copy of the Northern Iowan with the words “Ku Klux Klan” in bold print on the front page. “Yet we have an individual as distinguished as Dr. Cornel West and all we can do is give him photos? Where is the enlightenment in the scholar to educate us as students? What kind of reflection are we sending here? Because, you know what, this paper sold. Those (Northern Iowan) bins were empty all over campus.”

Laura Praglin, associate professor who represented the Jewish community, along with several other panelists expressed dissatisfaction with how the Department of Public Safety, the Cedar Falls Police and those in authority at UNI have handled certain bias-related incidents. Praglin said Public Safety dismissed a past vandalism involving swastikas etched into classroom walls as “insignificant,” reporting it only as “petty vandalism.” Without tenure at the time of the vandalism, Praglin chose not to press the issue for fear of losing her job.

“That’s not true,” said Director of Public Safety Dave Zarifis. “They’re not insignificant; they’re significant. … We investigate, we talk to people. If nobody has seen anything, nobody knows where (the vandalism came from), I’m not sure else we do that’s published and made notice of.

“… I can tell you we’ve worked on very diligently on a lot of the signage that’s been put on campus here. … It’s very frustrating when you can’t spot and get information as to whose doing it. … Whether (the vandalizers) have been good or lucky or whatever, it’s not the fact that we’re not pursuing these cases,” Zarifis continued.

“We’ve put a lot of time into it, I can say that. We’ve not been successful at this point, but these cases have not been closed; they remain open and we’re going to investigate them as long as it takes to find somebody. They’re still very active cases,” Zarifis concluded. “I understand people’s frustration, but it’s not for a lack of effort. We continue to have these cases open until we get them resolved.”

Bock had a situation that she felt wasn’t handled properly by UNI officials. She spoke of failing a class and not receiving a teaching assistantship at Hawkeye Community College, which she believes was a product of racial discrimination by a professor in her department.

“The school has systematically tried to destroy my academic and professional career,” Bock alleged. “This hurt me, this hurt my daughters, this hurt my parents, this hurt my family. We do suffer from mental health, depression and sadness because of the lies and hatefulness of one person that’s supported by administration.”

“The university — and specifically our department — does not discriminate. It is unfortunate that the student feels that she has been treated unfairly. Respect for the privacy of all of our students prevents the department from commenting on issues related to any specific student,” said Kent Sandstrom, head of the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology. “However, the department is deeply concerned about student experiences and strives to treat everyone with fairness. Our department has a strong record of commitment to diversity and social justice.

“This commitment is clearly demonstrated in the personal and professional lives of our faculty members,” Sandstrom continued. “The department’s faculty members are also notable for the number of awards they have received for their excellence in teaching, service and scholarship.”

Panelists feel that discussing alleged incidents of discrimination is important for the UNI community.

“I don’t want anybody to take my picture and say how wonderfully diverse UNI is … I am not a number you can put down and say, ‘Yes, we have a brown person in this department.’ My name is Sonja Lee Bock,” she concluded. “I am a daughter, I am a mother and I am a warrior.”