Did you know that you can lead a cow up a set of stairs but not down the stairs? Did you know that when a duck quacks you can’t hear it echo and they don’t know why? Hmmmm… The things you learn in college.

Tonight I got to see two Campus Pride alums John Tapert and Emily Yantis from Wright State University. Both of them attended the Campus Pride Summer Leadership Camp last July. John shared with me the fun facts about cows and ducks over dinner while Emily took me on a “scenic” tour of downtown Dayton earlier in the day. I always love seeing past Happy Campers and visiting their campus.

Both Emily and John (a fellow Campus Q Team blogger) are amazing student leaders and I was impressed to see the involvement of many other LGBT and ally students on their campus. Plus, their Rainbow Resource Center ROCKS! Emily had invited me as a guest speaker for “Hate Crime Awareness Week” which started today -- Monday, April 20. Wright State University has recently started a bias incident reporting team, which is an excellent way to support victims and prevent future incidents and hate crimes. I spoke about the “Impact of Hate,” specifically how to prevent bias and hate crimes on campus. I shared resources from Stop The Hate (http://www.stophate.org), an educational initiative of Campus Pride. Most importantly, I shared how we must all be advocates to fight hate and not be spectators when hate happens. This means confronting all forms of bias – jokes, harassment, discrimination, etc.

I want to thank Emily, John and the Olive Garden gang for their warm hospitality. Being on the road is rewarding when you meet such exceptional student leaders. Keep up the great work at Wright State… I predict one day you will have a full-time LGBT Director in your Rainbow Resource Center!