The shock of three campus hate crimes since Feb. 21 hasn't subdued for students and staff at Chico State University.

"I just can't believe this could happen," said senior Chris Williams, especially in the weeks following a successful Black History Month celebration put on by the campus group, Men of Honor.

Williams and the most recent hate crime victims are members of the Chico State group that aims at bringing awareness to the community.

"We got a really good response to that event," he said.

Williams said he was with the latest hate crime victims on Feb. 28 at a basketball game but wasn't there when they discovered the vehicle's tire valve stems had been slashed and racial slurs were spray-painted on their car as it sat in a lot at Nettleton Stadium.

"It's just something you don't think will happen till it happens to you," Williams said.

University President Paul J. Zingg referred to the incident as a "vile and cowardly act" and sent out an e-mail to the campus regarding all three hate crimes. In the e-mail, Zingg said "acts such as these are more than regrettable, they are contemptible."

The first evidence of a hate crime was found on Feb. 21 when campus police discovered racially and sexually offensive phrases and symbols around 3 a.m. inside the racquetball courts.

Two Chico State students are being charged with the second hate crime, which occurred on Feb. 27. Campus police responded to racially offensive phrases and symbols on the doors and bulletin boards of several floors in Whitney Hall. Timothy Simmons, 21, and Deric Braito, 22, both of Chico, were arrested Thursday and are being held on $150,000 bail each at the Butte County Jail in Oroville.

Public Affairs Director Joe Wills said he had a sickening feeling when he first heard that one of the campus hate crimes had been committed by a Chico State student.

"I have a sinking feeling when I hear about an incident like this," Wills said. "I first think about the student victims of this."

He said programs that address diversity are important at universities. Wills is the founder of the program Building Bridges, which addresses issues of diversity every Wednesday at noon. He said the goal of Building Bridges is to create a more inclusive campus atmosphere.

Voices of Discovery is a new program that is operated out of the Psychological Counseling and Campus Wellness Center that puts students of different backgrounds together with a mediator to talk about their differences in order to see their similarities.

"These are the kinds of things that help," Wills said. "One of the great goals is getting more and more students involved and exposing them to new things."

Wills said he has been impressed with the reaction on campus to the hate crimes.

"It shows that many people on this campus have feelings about the severity of a hate crime," Wills said.

On Tuesday, the Women's Center will be holding an anti-hate rally in the Free Speech Area from 11 to 2 p.m. Associated Students President Michael Dailey said this kind of response is merited.

"My whole thing is that this isn't our campus," he said. "We want to make sure we aren't defined this way."

Dailey said he was shocked when he learned about the three incidents. He said he called the most recent victims to give them his support.

"(The victim) said he hoped something would be learned from this and that impressed me," Dailey said.