Brian Levin, a professor in the criminal justice department, writes a blog in the Huffington Post and is quoted in the New York Times, while theatre department full-time lecturer Carol Damgen is profiled in The Press-Enterprise.

In the Huffington Post blog, Levin writes about the FBI annual crime index, which shows that criminal hate crimes reported to police increased 6.8 percent in the United States in 2015. There were 5,850 incidents in 2015, compared to 5479 reported in 2014, the widely anticipated report showed.

To read the complete article, click on “FBI: Hate Crime Went Up 6.8 Percent In 2015; Anti-Muslim Incidents Surge To Second Highest Ever.”

The New York Time’s story focuses on how since Election Day, outbursts of vitriol – verbal and physical – have been widely reported in the news and on social media. Civil rights groups say their inboxes and call centers are lighting up with reports of attacks.

In addition to fear, celebration is among the most common causes of hateful outbursts, according to Levin, the director of the CSUSB Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism. “When we have a catalytic event that is highly emotionally charged, we see an increase in hate crimes,” Levin said.

To read the complete article, click on “Reports of Bias-Based Attacks Tick Upward After Election.”

The Press-Enterprise refers to Damgen as San Bernardino’s Jack of Trades – actress, lecturer, and playwright. Raised in a military family, Damgen was nine years old and living in the Philippines when she discovered theater - a local venue was searching for girls to play students in a production of Lillian Hellman’s “The Children’s Hour.”

“I asked my mom if I could go to the auditions,” says Damgen, a resident of San Bernardino. “We did and I got one of the leads. It was a very progressive play and needless to say I was bitten by the world of theater from then on.”

Damgen has gone on to perform in over 50 plays and direct more than 40. Damgen is a full-time lecturer in the Theatre Arts department at Cal State San Bernardino. Damgen also serves as the area’s respondent circuit coordinator for the national Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, for whom she also serves as vice chair of their National Playwriting Program.

To read the complete article, click on “San Bernardino woman's a Jack of trades -- actress, lecturer, playwright.”