In today’s world, bias incidents reflect the challenges we face in a complex and changing global environment. At LMU, our community is built on respect, dignity, and inclusion, and it’s essential that every individual—staff, faculty, and students—feel empowered to voice concerns when those values are compromised. Fostering a culture where everyone feels heard and valued requires clear pathways for addressing bias incidents, which fully aligns with LMU’s mission of promoting justice.
The Bias Incident Reporting Team (BIRT) plays a vital role in our campus community by ensuring that bias incident reports are reviewed, advising the president on proposed responses, and developing university communication protocols.
As part of our ongoing commitment to these principles and upholding our shared values of respect and dignity, the bias reporting process has been revamped to better support those who experience or witness bias incidents. These changes are designed to make reporting easier and more accessible, ensuring that everyone in our community has a clear and effective way to address concerns. By understanding these updates, each of us contributes to fostering a more inclusive and accountable environment. These updates include:
- BIRT reports will now be sent to the entire BIRT committee, not just the Department of Public Safety as in the past.
- Language that helps further define and clarify relevant laws is now a part of the definitions page, including:
- The First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution which prohibits the government from creating laws that limit freedom of speech, the press, or the right to peacefully assemble.
- Leonard’s Law, under the California Education Code, which prevents private universities from implementing rules that would punish students solely for engaging in speech protected by the First Amendment.
- During all orientation classes, LMU Cares will now educate first-year and incoming transfer students on BIRT and its reporting protocol.
- The BIRT reporting form has been updated to collect vital information.
- The site now includes a BIRT process flowchart provides a map of the process.
Visit LMU’s BIRT page to learn more.
