Center for the Study of Hate Announces 2025 Eva Lassman “Take ...

Florida State University's Hate Crime Research and Policy Institute and Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based anti-hate activist Pardeep Kaleka are the recipients of this year's Gonzaga University Center for the Study of Hate Eva Lassman "Take Action Against Hate" awards.

The awards are presented to one individual and one organization that actively challenge hate and make positive strides of change in their communities, following in the footsteps of Eva Lassman, a Holocaust survivor and widely respected anti-hate advocate.

"The awards committee considers many factors when selecting recipients for the Eva Lassman 'Take Action Against Hate' awards, particularly the degree to which the nominees have engaged in action and awareness-building within their community, whether local, national or global," says Gonzaga's Aaron Danowski, who chaired the awards committee.

"While the committee is interested in any nomination that highlights efforts to counter hatred, we are attentive to efforts that demonstrate impact. The impact that the Hate Crime Research and Policy Institute and Pardeep have had on their respective communities is indisputable."

Dr. Brandon Lantz, founder of the Hate Crime Research and Policy Institute.
The Hate Crime Research and Policy Institute, founded in 2019 by Dr. Brendan Lantz, aims to examine the ways that hate, bigotry and extremism influence the victimization of people on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, and other personal characteristics. It houses several internationally renowned scholars focused on hate-crime victimization, including Dr. Marin Wenger and Dr. Sylwia Piatkowska, as well as numerous graduate and undergraduate research assistants. The Institute has compiled the Tracking Transgender Homicide in America database, one of the most comprehensive live databases on fatal violence targeting transgender people in the U.S. The Institute also manages the Longitudinal Hate Crime Victimization Survey, the largest ongoing panel study of exposure to bias and health outcomes in the country. The Institute collaborates closely with hate-crimes task forces in Florida to bolster education, as well as to build awareness of the inadequate measurement and accounting of hate crimes by law enforcement agencies across the country.

Pardeep Singh Kaleka is a leader in the anti-hate movement. His commitment to communal healing and combating hate stemmed from personal tragedy, the 2012 murder of his father and six other Sikh parishioners by a white supremacist at the Sikh Temple in Oak Creek, Wisconsin.

In response, Kaleka co-founded Serve2Unite, an award-winning organization nationally recognized for helping young people of different religious and cultural backgrounds build inclusive, non-violent communities. Kaleka is the co-author of "The Gifts of Our Wounds," a memoir and call to action co-written with Arno Michaelis, a former white supremacist who Pardeep reached out to after his father's murder. Together, they have travelled across the country sharing their story of reconciliation and healing after hate.

Kaleka currently serves as a Strategic Advisor to Not In Our Town (NIOT), a national movement that uses storytelling and film to confront hate and promote community-based solutions. NIOT produced a documentary chronicling the Oak Creek tragedy and the communal healing that took place in the aftermath. Kaleka leads NIOT's national hate response prevention programming. Kaleka has served as a de-radicalization interventionist with Parents4Peace, assisting individuals disengage from extremist ideologies. He has also consulted for the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI, and has advised on trauma-informed strategies for responding to hate crimes.

"There are things in life that will break your heart but fix your vision," Kaleka says. "To truly heal we must be willing to listen to that pain."

In fall 2024, Hindutva Watch, a hate speech tracking project founded by Kashmiri journalist Raqib Naik in 2019, and Canadian social worker Landon Turlock were honored with the Eva Lassman "Take Action Against Hate" award. Recipients of this year's "Take Action Against Hate" awardees will be honored at the Human Rights Awards Banquet, sponsored by Human Rights Spokane, on Nov. 6.