As a result of a series of cross burnings and other hate crimes and bias motivated incidents in and around the Valparaiso, Indiana area, there emerged a conflict among various community persons about these incidents. These persons disagreed about a variety of things but specifically about:
- How many similar incidents have occurred in the area?
- Where have these incidents occurred?
- Who have been the targets of these incidents?
- How severe are they?
- Are they becoming less or more frequent?
The Community Research and Service Center (CRSC) at Valparaiso University was asked to study these incidents to answer these questions. The CRSC agreed to do this, and to periodically update the information to reflect recent incidents.