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This article explores the impact of the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on stress, prejudicial attitudes, and hateful acts as they relate to college campuses. It presents a review of literature about existing Stressors and their impact on stereotyping and prejudice as they relate to major national and international crises involving racial, religious, and. ethnic differences. The literature review leads to a proposed proactive model for supporting campus communities in advance of crises with the purpose of building healthy campus climates that can minimize possible increases in prejudicial attitudes, hateful acts, and stereotyping.
Several years after the September 11 terrorist attacks, the United States continues to he concerned about terrorist attacks and war. During this time, reactions of stress, anxiety, and stereotyping have been prevalent, both in the general population and on college campuses, and have been discussed in the media and in literature. In the wake of these attacks, large college campuses with increasingly diverse populations may be more vulnerable to increased prejudicial attitudes and stereotyping toward groups that are viewed as being threatening.
Although a diverse population is generally highly desired at most colleges and universities, Hurtado, Milem, Clayton-Pedersen, and Allen (1999) note that increases in diversity do not always lead to positive interracial interactions. It has been found that students, faculty, and staff have prejudices toward certain groups, and that people in general have learned to inhibit their prejudices (Sedlacek & Brooks, 1972). Several studies have explored the impact that stress and anxiety have on reducing inhibitions (Bodenhausen, 1993; Davids, 2002; Smith, 1993; Wilder, 1993). When inhibitions are reduced, the prejudices people have learned to inhibit may be expressed, and hateful acts may increase. Given these factors, safety, crisis management, stress, and reducing stereotyping are all issues that may need to be considered when colleges and universities face intense national crises such as war and terrorism.
The Chronicle of Higher Education published many articles in the months following the attacks, regarding how colleges and universities around the country faced the crisis related to the September 11 terrorism. Issues of assaults on foreign students, intolerance for religious groups, and the voluntary withdrawal of Middle Eastern students emerged (McMurtrie, 2001; Walsh, 2002; Wilson & Cox, 2001). When national crises involve religious, racial, or...