 "Photo: Bryant Haertlein")
Hate crimes and discrimination on campus often go unreported, so the UT community needs to find solutions to these crimes, said Student Government President Danielle Rugoff, a founder of Keep UT Hate Free Week.
Rugoff came up with the idea for the event after her friend was attacked outside of his Jewish fraternity house, she said.
After doing some research, Rugoff said she discovered that though they aren't publicized, hate crimes occur often on campus.
"Doing research after my friend's attack, I discovered that there had been at least five attacks on members of the Jewish Greek community in the past three years," she said.
The Keep UT Hate Free Rally on Tuesday united about 100 students and various organizations at the East Mall Bus Circle to bring attention to hate crimes and discrimination on campus.
Students at the rally were allowed to voice their experiences and opinions of the UT community, said accounting junior Jaime Fink, chair of the Keep UT Hate Free committee.
Last year, the event's inaugural year, it was only a day long, but this year it has been expanded to a week of events, with each day emphasizing a different theme of discrimination, Fink said.
"We tabled in the rally for the same reasons every other organization did, I think," said international business senior Paul Tilton, president of the Habitat for Humanity Texas Campus Chapter. "Keep UT Hate Free is about understanding each other and keeping lines of communication open."
Tuesday evening, a panel of 13 students and faculty spoke about their experiences with hate crimes and discrimination. The Ransom Notes, a student a capella group, performed a song which portrayed each member's differences as well as their common interest in music, Fink said.
Keep UT Hate Free Week continues today with the theme of Celebrating Religious Diversity. A panel on the topic will be held in the San Jacinto Multipurpose Room from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.
"We are all Longhorns," she said. "We need to hold each other to the utmost respect."
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