Brandeis Coalition for Tolerance (BCT) and Hillel led a discussion entitled "The Swastika and other Forms of Hate" on Feb. 11 to address recent events surrounding the appearance of hate symbols and speech on campus.Co-sponsored by the India-Pakistan Dialogue Group, Triskelion, Brandeis Muslim Student Association (BMSA), the Buddhism club and the Coordinator of Diversity Services, the lecture consisted of a panel of professors including Antony Polonsky (NEJS), Andreas Teuber (PHIL) and Harleen Singh (COML), followed by a student-led discussion.

Polonsky gave a brief history of the swastika and its invocations. He explained that words of hate have changed over the years to reflect a more prejudiced tone.

"We're talking about words which were different than they are now," Polonsky said. "The terms become tainted because of discrimination."

Polonsky also claimed that in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001 there developed a divided response on how to respond to discrimination. The best way, he said, is to voice opinion and not remain silent.

"What we have to recognize is that [forms of hate are] a problem larger than the campus," Polonsky said, "and what we have to do is to not be afraid to speak out."

According to Polonsky, forms of hate, including the "Dusty Baker incident" in the Justice, the flyers posted by Benjamin 'Min' Moldover '07 mocking the "one thought at a time" campaign headed by the Student Union and Assistant Dean of Student Life Rev. Nathaniel Mays and the swastika found outside of North Quad are examples of incidents in which students should be vocal.

"[Forms of hate are] a consequence of which channels of communication have broken down," Polonsky said.

According to Ammad Bahalim '04, a founding member of BCT and a coordinating member of the lecture, Teuber discussed the "legal ramifications of student life, namely how there are rules to govern our treatment of others and rights of students to a non-hostile learning environment,"

Lastly, Singh addressed the "competing forms of oppression and the effects of hateful symbols," according to Bahalim.

Singh stressed that talking alone will not lead to an understanding of hate on campus.

"I'm not a believer in just talk," Singh said. "Just talking doesn't do anything. We have to dissuade ourselves that just talking in a group will solve everything because there's a difference between talking and talking out."

Singh also described the need for students to come together to address the problems of hate in the community, because it ultimately affects everyone on campus.

"You ought to be able to scream and voice your thoughts," Singh said. "We ought to have integrity for other's thoughts. Rather than tolerance of everyone we need to have respect."

Hillel Campus Relations Coordinator Leora Koller-Fox '05 added that Singh made an astute point that there's been a lot of "my oppression is worse than your oppression" going around.

"Almost everyone has come under some sort of oppression, whether it is you or your ancestors, whether it's because of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, disability or any kind of difference, we've all been criticized at one point in our lives," Koller-Fox, who assisted BCT and Mays in developing the program, said.

According to Bahalim, BCT intended to plan a program similar to this one last semester after the controversial Middle East scholar Daniel Pipes spoke on campus. Unable to plan an event before the end of the semester, BCT organized one this semester after it was chartered on Jan. 25. BCT decided to make the swastika the "primary cause of concern on the agenda" in planning the lecture.

"[Programs like "The Swastika and other Forms of Hate"] would be admittance that we have a problem which would be the first step to finding a solution," Bariza Umar '04, another organizer of the program, said.

Koller-Fox added that the main goal of the program was to provide understanding in order to bring the community together.

"A lot of the events from last semester left the greater community looking for answers and turning only to their own communities for support," Koller-Fox said. "To talk on a larger scale about these issues is a way to rebuild this community together."

Mays stressed that lectures like these allow for increased comfort in communicating similar problems on campus.

"I left [the program] really happy because I saw and heard some good comments from the faculty, but also some really mature, heartfelt things," he said.