By Lacey Ossip

Students were questioned as to how there life relates to the subject of hate: are they part of the problem, or part of the solution?

This question was placed in the minds of students at “Journey to a Hate Free America,” Wednesday night, at the last program in the First Year FOCUS series sponsored by the Dean of Students Office.

Brent Scarpo, a director and producer was invited to the University to give his presentation about hate crimes and their consequences. He also informed college students what they can do to help.

Scarpo is well known for directing and producing the award-winning documentary “Journey to a Hate Free America.” Scarpo started off the program by explaining his goal to create a solution to the problem of hate crimes nationally and internationally by his documentary and speaking at colleges and universities. He emphasized students need to take action and educate themselves first. They then should educate others on the ignorance of hate crimes.

“Because of free will, because of hate and because of those choices people make, those people were taken away,” Scarpo said when referring to Matthew Shepard, James Byrd and Rachel Scott, all killed due to crimes of hate.

Five volunteers were called onto the stage in the Student Center Theater and each was given a piece of paper with a word on it. When revealed, the student was asked to describe what the word meant to them. Scarpo told them beforehand there was no wrong answer, all of them would be right. These five words were, “suffering,” “ignorance,” “fear,” “hate,” and “anger.”

Hallie Caplan, a senior social science major received the word “hate.”

“To me hate is the opposite of love and it comes from fear,” she said.

The students then had to take the five words and arrange them in an order from worst connotation to the least.

A shortened version of Scarpo’s documentary was shown and the lighthearted vibe that was previously in the room was quickly erased as the video started out with racist words overlapping each other on the screen. The students watched as family members and friends of hate crime victims spoke out about their experiences and the need to educate those that are contributing to the spread of hate.

After the video, Scarpo spoke about his own experiences with these people and what students could do to help. A pamphlet was given out to the students, titled, “Ten Clear-Cut and Concise Ways to Combat Hate on Your College Campus.” One of those ways Scarpo emphasized was to attend an event sponsored by a different student organization on campus once a month. The more diverse the organization the better.

Scarpo left something else with the students. After graduating from college he was on his way to California to become an actor. When he left, his mother gave him a thimble and told him that if he carried that thimble with him she would know he was safe.

“If you take this thimble and you fill it with love, compassion and respect for yourself and for others, then I know you will be safe and then I can sleep at night.”

The presentation closed with Scarpo’s wish that if the students all filled up their thimbles with those ingredients to the very top, then some of that love, compassion and respect would spill over onto other people, maybe educating more about the tragedy of hate crimes.

Students on stage trying to build a “hate-free” America. (Lacey Ossip)