There have been 27 hate bias incidents reported at UMD this semester

There have been 27 reported hate bias incidents on the University of Maryland’s campus since the first day of the fall semester, a university spokeswoman said.

This number includes reports made to University Police and the Office of Civil Rights and Sexual Misconduct, spokeswoman Katie Lawson said.

“Hate/bias reports do not always mean a crime has been committed or that this is an act of discrimination, nor does it mean the perpetrator is affiliated with our campus,” Lawson wrote in a statement. “An example of this might be someone on campus receiving a voicemail using a racial slur.”

Lawson wrote in an email that data detailing past university hate bias investigations will likely be released early next week.

[Read more: UMD students have mixed reactions to new hate bias coordinator position and policy changes]

University Police daily crime logs show five reported hate bias incidents and one hate crime incident since the beginning of the fall semester.

Chief Diversity Officer Roger Worthington unveiled on Nov. 27 new policies for dealing with these incidents, including creating a hate bias coordinator within the Office of Diversity and Inclusion. The hate bias coordinator, who has not yet been hired, will be responsible for meeting with those affected by the incidents, serving on a hate bias rapid response team and handling educational programming on the issue.

[Read more: After an increase in hate bias incidents, UMD announces new response protocol]

Under the new procedures, University Police, the ODI and OCRSM would share all incident reports they received. The ODI will also create a webpage with an updated hate bias incident log, allowing individuals to choose to receive email updates when similar incidents occur on the campus.

After black Bowie State University student 2nd Lt. Richard Collins’ murder on the campus in May, university officials created a task force for dealing with campus diversity issues and tasked OCRSM with developing an annual report on all university hate bias incidents.

“Our campus community has been proactive in reaching out to report hate, working with law enforcement and Office of Civil Rights and Sexual Misconduct staff to track instances of hate and disrespectful behavior,” Lawson said.