Growing up in the south, there was no shortage of snide remarks about people who didn’t fit in. We’ve all remember the “you’re gay!” comments used as derogatory slander. But when a few inappropriate comments turn into spray painting the words on someone’s dorm room or worse - escalating to violence, Congress is now urging college students to speak up and report it. 

Among many other items, the Higher Education Opportunity Act passed by Congress last Thursday calls for colleges and universities to conduct research on hate crimes and encourage students to report them. Hate crimes are classified as a felony, which means the FBI (and sometimes even the CIA) get involved at the start of the investigation if it’s even a possibility of being categorized as a hate crime (such as the recent church shooting in Knoxville, Tenn. last weekend).

Education, as always, is going to be the best bet for campuses. Reporting crimes of any sort are intimidating as a college student, so empowerment is key. Students need to know the proper channels to report abuse. Even online students can be victims through inappropriate emails or chat sessions from other students. Usually, though, it’s much easier to report because there’s proof in writing you can simply forward to your online professor. It gets a little trickier when on-campus students have to report the incident face-to-face and it’s your word against the perpetrators.

All in all, Congress should be applauded for including this clause in the Higher Education Opportunity Act (which, by the way, is over 400 pages). And, better yet, colleges and universities can lose their funding if they don’t comply with the new regulations. One more step, though, the President must sign it before it moves into law. And, gee, we all know how easy THAT will be.