1/25/01
SPLC REPRESENTATIVE TO SPEAK AT AUBURN ON HATE GROUPS
AUBURN -- Tafeni English, a research specialist for the Montgomery- based Southern Poverty Law Center, will speak at Auburn University on Feb. 1, on the topic of hate groups and hate crimes.
English, whose appearance is sponsored by the Auburn Black Caucus, will speak at noon at the Foy Student Union, Room 213.
"The aim of this presentation is to broaden and enhance the university's and the community's knowledge of hate-crime activities in Alabama," says caucus president Evelyn Crayton, a foods and nutrition specialist for the Alabama Cooperative Extension System.
Crayton says the SPLC "has developed and distributes excellent teaching materials and provides workshops on Teaching Tolerance that are available for use throughout the United States."
"It is the Auburn Black Caucus's desire to help to promote a climate of unity and tolerance for all people here at the university and in the community. It has been reported that hate crimes are on the increase in the United States and in Alabama," she said. "Given this information, we at all levels in the university family must continue to be informed of any activities and be appraised of the appropriate behaviors and reporting mechanism to take."
English, 26, has been a research specialist since June 1997 for the SPLC's Intelligence Project, which encompasses Klanwatch and the Militia Task Force. She is responsible for tracking bias incidents and hate group activity throughout the United States.
English monitors and tracks activity including the Ku Klux Klan, neo- Nazi groups, the Skinhead movement and its factions, the black separatist movement, hate music, and hate crimes.
She also is involved with the production of the Intelligence Report, a quarterly publication sent to more than 6,000 law enforcement agencies throughout the country that gives updates on hate crimes and the white supremacist movement.
Before joining the Intelligence Project as a researcher, English was the center relations coordinator.
A native of Lincoln, Ala., she holds two degrees from Troy State University: a bachelor's in marketing and master's in counseling and psychology.
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CONTACT: Crayton, 334/ 844-2224/2207 or Hayle Kelley, 334/844-4580.