To: All Students
Fr: Dean of Students
Subject: Preventing and Responding to Zoom Bombing
Hello UCSC Community,
As we move through Spring quarter and continue to engage in a mostly remote learning environment, we wanted to reach out to provide some important information about preventing and responding to Zoom bombing. The majority of our online classes and events have gone on without issue. Unfortunately, however, there have been those who have chosen to take advantage of our current reality by engaging in Zoom bombing disruptions, often doing so in ways that are hateful, racist, misogynistic or heterosexist. Living and learning through a pandemic and an often chaotic national climate are hard enough without being subjected to this kind of hurtful disruption.
We are writing to share ways you can work to prevent Zoom bombing from occurring at events you might be planning or hosting, as well as to provide information about steps you can take during and after a Zoom bombing should one occur. All of the information you need to plan for a disruption free event, and for what to do should you experience a Zoom bombing can be found here.
Annika Duquet, one of the authors of this message, is a student programmer in the Co-Curricular Programs Office in John R. Lewis College. Annika experienced a Zoom bombing attack during a poetry program that she helped plan which was intended to be a space for BIPOC folx to gather in community. When the disruption occurred, she immediately felt shocked, then confused and then angry. Annika found that it was really important to engage in self care immediately following the Zoom bombing incident. She practiced self care by talking to friends and family, seeking guidance and support from professors and CAPS Counselors, and taking action against these harmful incidents.
We would like to lay out some self care practices that may improve your mental health should you experience a hate/bias incident. The need for self care is critical, especially during upsetting or harmful acts such as a Zoom bombing. Experiencing a hate/bias incident can lead to a variety of emotions, all of which are valid and which impact each individual in unique ways. To learn more about self care in the wake of these kinds of incidents you can click here to access a resource compiled by UCSC students and staff.
As Martin Luther King stated, “Hate begets hate; violence begets violence; toughness begets a greater toughness. We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love.”
In community,
Annika Duquet Garrett Naiman
Psychology & Education, ‘21 Dean of Students