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UITC members attend many of these as advocates for the community. Wher Tudor attends, he explains that <br />most community members see him as "Jeff" rather than Chief Tudor. In part, because of UITC, Chief Tudor believes police - <br />community relations are enhanced. Community members view Chief Tudor and his staff as more "approachable". <br />UITC has also developed a record of supporting educational and dialogue -focused community events. Annually, UITC hosts <br />MILK events focused on race, privilege and racism. Standing out among other collaborative events, in December, 2016 UITC <br />partnered with the City of San Leandro to host Tim Wise, a nationally prominent anti -racism and white privilege speaker. <br />UITC leaders view these events as opportunities to educate the community about race and privilege. <br />CHALLENGES & NEXT STEPS <br />Formed as a group of community volunteers responding to divisive hate incidents, during its first few months UITC built <br />energy and momentum for its Unity Walk. However, the engagement of UITC members ebbs and flows. UITC members <br />appear energized to plan for and organize events like the Unity Walk and the annual MILK Events, but according to <br />Councilmember Lee, participation often shrinks "back down to the core group" following a UITC event. <br />UITC's work has shifted — from reacting to a series of hate incidents to developing proactive initiatives to face hate and <br />community division. Proactive work is more challenging. "People don't think we need" proactive work because, according <br />to Souza, "They don't want to admit there are issues." Chief Tudor recognizes the challenge of proactively organizing and <br />directing the focus towards a mission, especially when you are dealing with community professionals and volunteers. <br />Nonetheless, core UITC leaders have ideas for future work. Ashcraft suggests UITC should "bring in a lot more people," "do <br />a better of job of outreach to avoid complacency," and "go after funding" Several UITC members suggested expanding the <br />group's work to address all community divisions, to address concerns related to minority hiring practices and the selection <br />of minority contracts, and to take measured steps for enhance legislation against hate incidents. Ashcraft further proposed <br />going after grant funding to staff UITC. <br />William "Bill" Froehlich developed this case study. Bill is the Deputy Director of the Divided Community Project and the <br />Langdon Fellow in Dispute Resolution at The Ohio State University Moritz College of Law. Bill is grateful to Surlene Grant, <br />Bernard Ashcraft, Jeff Tudor, Benny Lee, and Diane Souza for giving up their valuable time to sit for an interview about <br />the project. Bill sincerely appreciates the support and guidance of the Divided Community Project's steering committee, <br />particularly Craig McEwen, Nancy Rogers, Josh Stulberg, and former project director Grande Lum. Bill can be reached at <br />Froehlich.28Cdosu.edu. <br />Endnotes <br />1 For more information about Not In Our Town: https://www.niot.org/. <br />2 For more information about Dr. Butler and the World Trust: https://world-trust.org/dr-shakti-butler/. <br />