FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Press Contact:
Campus Pride
Phone: 704-277-6710
Email: info@campuspride.org

(Charlotte, N.C. -- November 4, 2009) Stop the Hate, a national bias and hate crime prevention program for colleges and universities, announces the dates for its upcoming Stop The Hate Train The Trainer program. The three-day training will begin on Thursday, Dec. 3at 8:30 a.m. and will conclude on Saturday, Dec. 5 at 2:30 p.m., hosted on the campus of the University of North Carolina Charlotte in Charlotte, N.C. Registration is open until November 26, 2009 with early-bird special discounts at http://www.stophate.org/events.html

Bias incidents and hate crimes are a prevalent, growing issue at colleges and universities across the United States – even the Carolinas. The organization cites these select headlines from North Carolina and South Carolina over the last three years to name a few.

May 16, 2007: The death of Sean Kennedy, a gay young man, who was brutally killed outside a bar after being called “Faggot.”

November 5, 2008: The epitaphs scrawled on a tunnel wall on campus: "Let's shoot that (N-word) in the head," and "Hang Obama by a noose.”

September 14, 2009: A rock with a letter attached threatening a gay student with death threats saying “You don't deserve life like the rest of the world. It's bad enough without all the gay crap pulling people down. It's sick, unnatural and death is almost too good for you. Almost."

Stop The Hate planners remind campuses that bias incidents happen everywhere and justly states that “hate crimes do not discriminate.” Registered-to-date are participants representing colleges and universities from across the country including University of New Mexico, Babson College, University of Toledo, Miami University, Winthrop University, UNC Charlotte and Guilford College. Although the training focuses on higher education institutions, participants are welcome from the local community, businesses and other educational organizations.

“I have wanted to go to the Stop The Hate training for a couple years now. The scholarship is helping me and many others receive this valuable training in a tight budget year,” said Adrienne Jones, a student at University of South Carolina, Upstate. “I can’t wait to take Stop The Hate back to my campus.”

Food Lion and the Charlotte Lesbian & Gay Fund, a collective giving and endowment initiative of Foundation For The Carolinas, provided grant support to fund scholarships for area colleges and universities. Stop The Hate along with its founder Shane L. Windmeyer are based locally in Charlotte, N.C. According to Windmeyer, this is the second year for the training being offered in the Carolinas and the goal is to host the training annually in Charlotte.

Over the last decade, the organization has trained more than 1,200 students, faculty, staff and administrators at colleges and universities across the United States. The Stop The Hate program is an educational initiative of Campus Pride, the leading national nonprofit 501(c)3 for student leaders and campus groups working to create a safer college environment for LGBT students across the United States.

The Train the Trainer is nationally recognized as a leading resource where participants become skilled in twelve different learning modules (such as Understanding Bias/Hate Crimes, General Terminology, Hate Crime Law, Offender Typologies/Motivations, Victim Support, The Attraction of Hate). Each participant leaves with an action plan and how to combat bias and hate crimes the following year. The Stop The Hate program is in partnership with the Anti-Defamation League, Association of College Unions International, The Southern Poverty Law Center, the Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence, the Matthew Shepard Foundation, Napa Valley College Criminal Justice Training Center and the Wilbron Institute.

Early discounted registration is $395 per participant which includes the 250+ page training manual, audio-visual teaching aides and all the materials necessary for the three day training. Special scholarships are still available. Register online at http://www.stophate.org/events.html. For more information or questions, please contact info@stophate.org or call 704-277-6710.