Frequently Asked Questions

"A criminal act or attempted criminal act against an individual or group of individuals because of their actual or perceived race, color, religion, ancestry, national origin, sexual orientation, gender, or disability."

LA County District Attorney's Office

A crime is an act deemed to be illegal, it becomes a hate crime when it is motivated by bias or prejudice against a person or people perceived to be a part of a group, and that is intended to induce fear, scare, terrify or cause psychological harm.  Victims of hate crimes often continue to feel threatened long after an attack due to being targeted simply because of who they are.  These crimes victimize everyone - individuals and our entire community. 

On October 28, 2009, President Barack Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.  This mesaure expanded federal hate crime law to include crimes motivated by a victim's actual or perceived gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, or disability.

The following activities are examples of crimes that qualify as hate crimes if motivated by the victim’s actual or perceived group identity:

• Physically assaulting someone while using derogatory racial, sexual, etc. words
• Vandalism or “hate” graffiti directed toward a group where it will be seen by members of the targeted group, e.g. painting a swastika on a Jewish temple.
• Burning a cross on the lawn of a black couple.

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You can vote online or in person April 10-12 (Monday, Tuesday Wednesday). Online voting can be accessed through callink - (linked here)

There will also be a physical polling location that will be announced soon.

You may choose to vote only for the referendum and not vote on anything else.

Centers for Educational Justice & Community Engagement (EJCE): Multicultural Student Development (MSD), including African American Student Development (AASD), Asian Pacific American Student Development (APASD), Chicanx Latinx Student Development (CLSD), Multicultural Community Center (MCC), Native American Student Development (NASD); and the Gender Equity Resource Center (GenEq), including, Lesbian, Gay Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ+) resources, Women’s resources, and resources addressing sexual and dating violence.

$29 per semester $58  per year

or less than 35¢ a day

33% of the referendum goes to return to aid, which pays for the fees for students with full financial aid.

The amount is representative of the basic needs of the six spaces that comprise EJCE - staffing, programming and student employment/research.

With approximately 25% of the fee going to staffing, it would allow hiring of 5 essential staff positions that have either been eliminated or never existed including:

• director of LGBT services (new)

• program coordinator for women’s services (new)

• director of Native American Student Development (new, current position is program coordinator)

• Assistant director of Cross-Cultural (replacing Director of cross-cultural, eliminated in 2016)

• Assistant director of the Fanny Lou Hamer Black Resource Center  (new)

Additionally, programming funding which has been shrinking due to budget cuts over the course of time would allow EJCE to enhance current programs and develop new programs to address community needs that are not being met. Because of the student-centered nature of EJCE and its offices, the fee also will allow for an increase in student hires - both for undergraduate and graduate students.

Recognizing that there are always communities that are not resourced or directly represented, the student initiated program funding is something essential for students to apply for to address unmet needs.

Once the basic needs were identified, we worked to find the an moderate amount that would make an impact on the entire campus community.

The referendum benefits all graduate, professional school and undergraduate students individually and collectively. When the most marginalized communities on campus are made to feel safe, it improves awareness of the multitude of people, beliefs, and identities that exist in our world. This referendum is not taking away, or prioritizing the communities that EJCE serves, because the cluster works collaboratively to meet the needs of all students through lifting up intersectionality and and providing education.

Opportunities to engage and learn about those different than you also provide valuable professional development for the current global marketplace.

Historically, the offices and centers that make up EJCE have been under-resourced and understaffed. The recent budget cuts that are projected to continue for several years will make it nearly impossible for EJCE to continue to function with current staffing and resources. In 2016, 2 positions were eliminated. EJCE staff lack the capacity at this time to effectively carry out fundraising. The student referendum allows the cluster time to strategically address how to target and acquire the necessary resources to keep our programs and spaces running for the community.

The 2013 campus climate survey indicated that there are many areas on campus that could be improved for all students to feel included and supported. As part of the division of Equity & Inclusion, EJCE and the intersectional nature of the work each office does can work to help address many of those issues, but not at current staffing and funding.

Additionally, the opportunity to grow the reach of EJCE and the offerings, will allow greater education and opportunities for cross-cultural experiences to help prepare students for jobs in a growing global marketplace.

Expanding Education Across Campus

• Providing education for all students through diversity and multicultural workshops

• Creating Brave Spaces where people of all identities can learn from one another through dialogue and mutual education, and build community where everyone is respected and actively strives to understand how to respect others.

• Efforts that result from the Big C referendum passing will help support the university’s efforts to cultivate global leaders with skills to work with diverse groups of people.

• Addressing 2013 campus climate survey results which indicated that 1 in 4 students experience exclusion, with peers being the largest source for that exclusion.

• Big C will provide resources to create and enhance existing opportunities for students to expand and engage one another, students with different background, and strengthen our campus community. Particularly, the Big C will provide increased capacity to address Sexual and Dating Violence prevention work which has a wide campus impact

• Result: Providing a mode for the university to have accountability for addressing those results

Student Centered Benefits - for both graduate and undergraduate students

• Providing jobs for undergraduate and graduate students through internships and special projects

• Increasing income opportunities in engaged community work for graduate and undergraduate students

• Bridging classroom learning to real-world workplace experience that prepares students for post-graduate job opportunities

• Leadership Development opportunities through internships - the intersectional nature of our areas as well as the student centered focus of our programming allows students to learn to design and implement programs and projects that are collaborative → which can be valuable work experience and leadership development

• Result: Global leaders with skills to work with diverse groups of people

• Providing research opportunities for graduate students interested in higher education and multicultural work through the increase in bandwidth of respective offices

• Result: Increasing the opportunities for students to have intellectual and academic experiences at Berkeley that are engaged with other members of the Berkeley community

• Increasing funding opportunities for student-initiated diversity, multicultural, and equity projects & programs for both graduate and undergraduate students

• Result: ability for students to create and lead programs that are relevant to their current interests and direct needs

• Creating and expanding programs for students

• Result: Increasing the number and kinds of mentorship, academic support, and mental health support that are offered from each office

The big C (big community) is a referendum that invests in graduate and undergraduate students having a more engaging inclusive and welcoming campus. It provides funding for direct support to underrepresented and/or underserved graduate and undergraduate students and their communities. Through student-initiated projects it will also foster greater understanding across all UC Berkeley communities by expanding EJCE’s ability to incorporate a broader spectrum of student perspectives and address needs of communities currently without resources. Lastly, it directly expands the the services of programs provided by EJCE.

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